As the angry horde of Sneasels hissed and snarled, the group of trainers called forth their Pokemon, ready to defend the farm. While the trainers issued orders to their Pokemon, Weavile’s eyes narrowed and it munched on a berry, waiting to see who would face it head-on first. The two Cloud Garden trial captains had joined the fray as well, Jet’s Skarmory and Samuel’s Sudowoodo ready for battle. As they felt their advantage in numbers becoming weaker by the minute with all of these new opponents, the Sneasels grew restless and launched their next assault.

Blurs of black and magenta flew throughout the orchard as the Sneasel pounced into action. Bill’s Squirtle, Silver was first to retaliate, spraying a stream of Bubbles to knock a few of the Sneasels off their feet. Silver followed the strike up with a Water Gun to knock one of the Sneasels in the middle back into a tree and finished off the combo by ramming into it with a Tackle of his hard shell. The Sneasel slumped over, defeated, which did not sit well with its two allies that had been previously targeted by the Bubble. They converged on Silver, one of them striking him in the back with a Feint Attack while the other Scratched him on the shell for light damage.

Choux the Snubbull was the first to come to Silver’s defense, hey eyes glowing red and punched and kicked at a Sneasel with a flurry of Close Combat maneuvers, instantly knocking it out. As she panted to catch her breath, her guard lowered, she stared down the third Sneasel with a Scary Face, hoping to scare it off, but the weasel would not be deterred so easily. It quickly slipped behind the Snubbull and hit her with a Faint Attack causing her to become so surprised that her Rattled disposition caused her adrenaline to spike.

While all of the enemies darted about rapidly, only one calmly remained in place while eating its berry; Weavile. Nuhuko the Lunatone locked in on the big boss and fired forth a Power Gem, a reddish beam of light striking Weavile in the shoulder, causing it to drop its berry. If the Lunatone wanted its attention, it surely got it now. Leering angrily, the Weavile suddenly darted forward as fast as it could. However, once it got within striking distance of Nuhuko, the Lunatone released a blast of energy that distorted the very fabric of physics in the surrounding area. A cube-shaped dimension known as a Trick Room filled the clearing and appeared to warp the movement of the Pokemon caught in it. However, when Nuhuko turned its attention back to the Weavile, the boss was missing. Nuhuko began looking around for it, but by the time it was finally located, it was too late. Weavile had slipped into the Lunatone’s blind spot and struck it from behind with a Feint Attack for solid damage.

Back in the conflict with Sneasel, Choux seemed to be running circles around her foe as her Rattled adrenaline gave her an advantage over the Sneasel she had shown her Scary Face to. However, as the properties of the Trick Room warped the area, Choux suddenly found herself much slower than the Sneasel, who Scratched her vengefully. All she could muster after that was to clamp down her jaw on the Sneasel’s arm with a light Bite.

Caeda the Skarmory swooped into action next, crashing into the ground with her talons out first in order to kick up a Rock Slide that battered several Sneasel for considerable damage. She then kicked back off the ground and flew into the heart of the Trick Room, ramming the Weavile with her tough Iron Head. Weavile groaned as the Skarmory continued her fly-by, gliding out of range. Hotstuff the Charmander began concentrating deeply, ready to Focus all of his energy into a massive Punch on the Weavile, but was immediately knocked onto his back as a random Sneasel promptly Faked him Out. He blew forth a Flamethrower in frustration, catching the Sneasel more than the Weavile, but dealing a good amount of damage nonetheless. As the Sneasel fell in defeat, Hotstuff followed up with a second Flamethrower, catching the Weavile head-on this time. Weavile hissed as some of the snow melted and rammed into Hotstuff with a strong Quick Attack.

With Sneasel swarming the Pokemon from all directions, a contingent of Pokemon stood firmly to take them all on. Lune the Eevee made her best attempt to kick up a Sand Attack, slapping a paw full of snow in a Sneasel’s face to little effect. It did buy her time however to pepper it with a flurry of Swift stars. Louise the Mawile emitted a Sweet Scent from her Venus fly trap-like horn which lured in a number of Sneasel. She clocked one of them with a Power-Up Punch, her fist glowing orange and further bolstering her attack. She then grappled the Sneasel tightly and after planting her horn firmly in the ground, she flipped both herself and the Sneasel high into the air before slamming her opponent down on the ground with a hard Seismic Toss, knocking the Sneasel out in the process.

Meanwhile, Rotom as well as Belial the Houndoom faced off against their own mobs of Sneasels. Rotom began Charging up as much electricity as it could before Discharging it on a group of unsuspecting Sneasels for considerable damage. As it prepared to strike again, one of the Sneasels snuck up from behind and hit it with a Feint Attack for decent damage before becoming fried by a second Discharge that knocked it out and paralyzed two other weakened Sneasels. Belial the Houndoom picked out a Sneasel from the group and singed it with an Ember. As the Sneasel retaliated with a Quick Attack, the Houndoom swatted it down with a strike from his pointed Iron Tail, knocking it out.

As the remaining Pokemon converge on the Weavile, a number of Sneasels came to its defense. Looking to take out the Trick Room to regain their advantage, the Sneasels circled around Nuhuko menacingly. A pair of Sneasel lunged forward, hitting the wall of the dimension with an array of Fury Swipes which caused the walls to momentarily shake and glitch out, but as Lune offered the Lunatone a Helping Hand, Nuhuko was able to resupply the field with more energy.

It was now Leo the Spheal’s time to shine as the proud little sea lion pup barked his fiercest Growl in Weavile’s direction, getting its attention. As he then Curled into a Defensive ball, Rika the Espeon sped through the crowd of Sneasels, hitting a few of them with a Quick Attack before ramming into Weavile with a Tackle. Weavile was knocked backwards, losing its balance just in time for Caeda the Skarmory to swoop back in and ram it with another Iron Head. Leo then rolled forward, and with encouragement from Rika’s Helping Hand, collided with the Weavile for a powerful Rollout.

Weavile had taken quite a few beatings at this point and Screeched loudly in a combination of anger, frustration, and pain, hurting everyone’s ears in the process. Weavile began glowing a light blue before sending an Avalanche of snow and ice in all directions. Caeda, Rika, Nuhuko, Hotstuff, Lune, and Leo were all caught in the powerful attack, although Hotstuff’s natural resistances and Leo’s Thick Fat lessened the blow for them individually.

“Great job, guys!” Jet called out as he took care of a Sneasel with his Skarmory. The Weavile was breathing pretty heavily but appeared to still have some fight left in it. A few of the trainers’ Pokemon had taken some decent hits as well, but for the most part everyone was still raring to go. As the trainers began to assess the situation, an old and frantic voice crackled over Jet’s walkie-talkie. “Jet! We need you over here! Swinub… they’re taking over the garden!”

Jet bit his lip and summoned one of the Mudsdale-drawn carriages. “Don’t worry, we can handle things here,” Samuel spoke with a reassuring nod. Jet nodded back and addressed the group, “Looks like we’re needed over at the Rose Garden as well. You’re welcome to remain here and help out against the Sneasels, but if you wish to tag along, come with me! The other carriage will remain here if any of you need a ride later.” Jet boarded the sleigh with the trainers who volunteered to follow him and they were on their way.

~~~~~~~

It was a short ride back the way they came as they headed in the direction of town. However, before they arrived there, they turned west and made their way toward the Rose Garden. What was once a beautiful garden filled with vibrant flowers was now a winter wonderland, filled with wilted grass type Pokemon. There was a sea of brown across the garden as well, as a horde of Swinub had taken over and were grazing on various plants as well as rooting up mud and dirt everywhere.

The group fought their way through the icy little boars before making it to the center of the garden where they found Primrose, the young heiress of the garden huddled with her Musharna for warmth while the old gardener Poppy attempted to hold off Swinub with a rake. “Thank goodness!” Poppy breathed a sigh of relief, “Everyone was stuck at town, but my Gogoat and I fought our way here to protect young Mistress Nightingale. Gogoat didn’t last too long, unfortunately, and young mistress has gotten a bit of a chill here…” Primrose had Poppy’s coat draped over her shoulders and was barely conscious as the cold had made her too weak to stand. The storm had come too suddenly, and she was unable to escape the garden in time before it hit. “Alright guys, let’s take care of these Swinub so we can get Primrose safely back to town!” Jet called out, calling forth his Skarmory once again.

You are now presented with a choice. You may either continue fighting Sneasel and Weavile at the Oran Orchard, or you may take on Swinub at the Rose Garden. If you choose the latter, simply include the travel and your new orders in your response. There will be ample opportunities to move between the areas each week, so do not worry about being left behind!

Although generally speaking the group were having the upper hand, as most Sneasel were down and out and the lead Weavile was getting tired, Mélina didn't quite like the current situation Lune was in: Not only she didn't do quite some damage and the "Sand"-Attack wasn't very effective, but she took quite some damage from that Avalanche and that Screech didn't do any favors. Only thing advantageous she was able to pull was helping out the Lunatone keeping the Trick Room up despite the attacks against it. Should they continue the way they're going, or should they completely change their strategy? As the woman pondered on this, she overheard Samuel's walkie-talkie about needing some help at the Rose Garden, now overwhelmed by Swinub. This overwhelmed her mind a bit, now wondering if she should go there or stay.

Seeing her trainer overthinking, Lune barked at her. The loud sound successfully made Mélina snap out of her absentminded inner rant. "A little less derping and worrying, a little more actual thinking and doing!", she figured. She thanked her Eevee, got her mind straight on her options, then fairly quickly decided on what to do.

"I think we better stay here," Mélina shared her thoughts to Lune. "You're getting tired, and the Swinub are probably in full force! While the Sneasel are less numbered and are tired too, so better for us! Besides, We need some people to stick around here, in case more hostile Pokémon show up."

"Eevee!" Lune nodded in approval, although panting a bit.

"Ok, no more Sand-Attack, we'll be more efficient this time! Start with a Quick Attack on the weakest-looking Sneasel around, then retreat a bit before throw Swift on it twice - although try to hit a surrounding Sneasel or the Wevile too, if you think you can pull that off!"

The journey to the waterfall was hard on everyone involved, even Pokemon who would normally do well in this type of weather were having a hard time. On top of that, everyone could feel the ominous atmosphere grow as they got closer to their destination and once they all arrived it was clear why. Athena doesn’t even have the chance to get through her first sentence before she is interrupted by the unexpected ambush of Vanillite and its evolved forms. Knowing that there is no more time for talking, Athena and her Clefable immediately get to work fighting. Visibility immediately declines further than the storm itself had already caused once several Vanillite create Icy Wind to fill the area. Athena is barely visible and the trainers are left to think fast as there are Ice Beams blasting toward them from random directions plus an Avalanche threatening to crush them. The dark sphere whose cry had marked the beginning of these attacks sits atop the waterfall and watches.

The first Pokemon to start fighting is, Aster the Shiny Mareanie who had decided to burst out of her ball and insist on fighting. After deciding to single out one of the Vanillish, Aster charges in and is immediately blasted by one of the Ice Beams that have been shooting from seemingly random places due to it being so hard to see. This doesn’t seem to ruin any of her confidence though, and after tumbling in the snow she gets up and continues for the Vanillish she had her sights set on. The Pokemon’s attention is elsewhere so her Toxic hits without any issue. Now poisoned, the Vanillish sees Aster and lets out a cry in frustration. “Liiish!” The Pokemon immediately uses Acid Armor in order to defend itself and is then hit mercilessly by Aster’s Liquidation which does critical damage. The Vanillish is very angry now and rains down on the Shiny Mareanie with an Avalanche which quickly buries the Pokemon in the snow and hurts twice as much as it normally would. Aster isn’t done yet and leaps out of the snow mound and uses Venoshock, drenching the Vanillish in a toxic liquid that does a great deal of damage since it’s already poisoned. The Pokemon is clearly hurting at this point but isn’t ready to give up and uses a Mirror Coat which gives Aster double the pain the Vanillish just received. Both Pokemon are now hurt and panting while staring each other down.

Although Athena had practically disappeared in the storm, Happy the Flareon was able to catch up with her. The Clefable wasn’t holding back at all and was giving one of the Vanillish a serious Wake-Up Slap upon Happy’s arrival. As soon as the Clefable had paused for a second, Happy used that as his chance to Take Down the Vanillish himself before it had a chance to retaliate. The Vanillish now fights back and shoots Happy with a Beam of Ice which sends Happy rolling across the snow quite a bit and it takes him a while before he can regain his bearings because of the storm. “Help him out Selene! Use Disarming Voice!” Athena wants to make sure the Vanilluxe doesn’t have a chance to get Happy while he’s down and has her Clefable draw attention back to her. The Disarming Voice does exactly what Athena had hoped and not only hurts it, but it’s no longer looking at Happy. Back on his feet and not about to give up he uses his Rock Smash on the Vanillish and immediately afterwards blasts it in the face with Flamethrower. While the Vanillish is being overwhelmed with flames Athena sees this as an opportunity. “Selene! Finish it off with Meteor Mash!” The Clefable runs up as soon as the flames stop and pounds it with a Meteor Mash sending it flying. The Pokemon seems to be down for the count but there are other serious opponents out there so after a quick thank you Athena heads for her next fight.

Another battle was happening elsewhere, Millie the Miltank’s Thick Fat was thankfully helping her endure the endless storm around her so approaching her opponent while avoiding Ice Beams was challenging but not as difficult as it was for some of the other Pokemon. She also went right for one of the Vanilluxe and immediately Captivated it. With its guard slightly lowered, Millie charges in with a Zen Headbutt and smashes into the Vanilluxe causing it to flinch and immediately begins to spin into a Rollout smashing into it once more. The Vanilluxe is now angry and decides to take it out on not only Millie but everyone else around it too and unleashes a Hail storm into the already chaotic weather. Large balls of thick ice crash down and smash into Millie. Beside her is Balerion the Shiny Charmeleon who is after the other Vanilluxe who is further away. While being pelted with the Hail he uses his Ancient Power to hurl stones of ice at the Vanilluxe in order to grab its attention. It begins to charge toward Balerion but is momentarily interrupted when Stahl the Shiny Starmie shoots off a Confuse Ray at the unsuspecting Pokemon. Slightly dazed, the Vanilluxe doesn’t get to attack right away and Balerion uses this opportunity to charge in with a Flare Blitz, the flames cause the snow beneath his feet to melt but it is immediately replaced due to the storm. He crashes into the Vanilluxe and seems to hurt it quite a bit but also hurt himself. Surprisingly, the opponent is not burned but that doesn’t stop Balerion from clawing at the Vanilluxe with Metal Claw. The Vanilluxe uses Avalanche in retaliation, its confusion causes it to bury not on Balerion but itself as well. However, it’s barely phased by its own attack and comes out of the snow without a care.

While several of the Pokemon have aimed at specific targets, several other Pokemon have been holding off the incoming horde of Vanillite so that they don’t get in the way and before they overwhelm everyone. Stahl is shooting what almost feels like an endless wave of them with Swift and isn’t missing a single target. Whenever the occasional Vanillite slips by it is knocked back by a glowing light from Power Gem. Things seemed to be going very well for Stahl but sadly it doesn’t last. The Vanillite are tired of getting taken out with stars and work together to retaliate, all of them begin to hurl Icicle Spear’s at Stahl who is having trouble dodging the extremely large number of icicles being hurled at it and it begins to take its toll. Wildfire who used his Foresight to find a good place to fight, noticed Stahl having trouble and used his own Swift to start pushing back the extra Vanillite who were outnumbering Stahl’s Swift. This group seems to be under control again and Wildfire and Stahl work together for a bit with their Swifts. Somehow the waves feel endless, eventually Wildfire uses Heat Wave in hopes of putting a big dent in their numbers and it works at first but then it also causes them to fight back with Mirror Coat which hurts Wildfire quite a bit.

Defending from another direction is Kong the Slaking who currently seems to be enjoying himself but who knows how long that will last before he gets bored. He swings his Hammer Arm and knocks out an entire line of incoming Vanillite. And that about does it for his interest, he Traunts for a bit and decides to take a moment to lay in the snow and just take in the atmosphere. Meanwhile, he has been getting surrounded by a bunch of very upset looking Vanillite who didn’t enjoy being knocked around by him. Some of them decide to use Acid Armor in order to protect themselves while others ambush him with a bright Mirror Shot which surprises him. It actually surprises him enough to bring his interest back into the battle. He slowly gets up and looks at the group of Vanillite who flashed that move at him and slowly raises his fist into the air and then brings it down for a powerful Dynamic Punch. Of course, he completely misses the group that had attacked him since his accuracy was suffering but he does manage to hit the group that was covered in their Acid Armor and they are looking a bit confused. Satisfied with his only barely successful revenge, he is bored once again and lays back in the snow to Traunt for a bit more. Annoyed, the Vanillite begin to use Hail which pelt not only Kong but some of the surrounding allies as well. Akame the Pawniard wasn’t too far away from Kong and had just got done using Magnet Rise and was now dealing with the hail that Kong’s opponents had kicked up, fortunately being levitated helped her dodge some of the incoming balls of ice. After being pelted a few times and kicking some rocks out of the snow, it became clear that her Stealth Rocks were needed to not only shield her from incoming Pokemon, but from the large balls of ice being hurled at her as well. The incoming Vanillite stop their charge and begin to hurl Icicle Spears at Akane, breaking her rocks away and immediately overwhelming her with their attack. She isn’t about to back down though and decides to get some Revenge and smashes into a number of the Vanillite with twice as much damage as they were dishing out. They didn’t like being surprised like that and a few of them now appear to be starting an Uproar out of frustration.

Everyone’s battle is tough, there is not a single Pokemon that isn’t giving it their all. The Glalie continues to watch from atop the waterfall, seemingly not making a move but its presence can’t help but be felt by all. “This isn’t good!! Everyone, we’re surrounded!” Athena, who had been on her way over to help fight one of the Vanilluxe has just made a discovery. Everyone had been so distracted with their own fights that they hadn’t noticed that not all of the ice surrounding them was still. There were what appeared to be balls of ice rolling through the snow beside small moving glaciers from every direction and they were quickly closing in on the trainers and their Pokemon. After closing the distance, those balls of ice almost simultaneously begin to open up revealing many Alolan Sandshrew who waste no time making the weather even worse by blasting Powder Snow in what seems to be every direction. The many Bergmite beside them have no problem joining in and use their Icy Wind to continue what the Vanillite had started earlier. “Sandslash!!!” Suddenly, the cries of two Alolan Sandslash echo through the air, drawing attention to where they stand just behind the Bergmite and Alolan Sandshrew. There is a pause of silence where the only thing everyone hears is the whistle of the strong winds from the storm. This moment of peace doesn’t last long though, the Glalie at the top of the waterfall lets out another one of its cries and the new opponents along with the old, charge into battle.

In order to keep things organized for us to update, please use only 1 Pokemon in combat at a time and order up to no more than 3 attacks at a time. Reminder: this campaign will be updated every weekend around Saturday/Sunday, so if you are unable to reply in time do not worry. There is no penalty for missing an update; simply reply to the latest update to keep up with the plot. Please reply in DeepSkyBlue

Between the chaos of battle and the terrible weather made worse by the Ice-types they were now fighting, Melissa had trouble keeping an eye on her starter. She spotted flashes of fire in at least three locations, but only one had been preceded by yellow flashes of what she hoped were Swift stars because that's the one she was heading towards.

She must have guessed right because Wildfire tumbled out of the blizzard and picked himself up, spinning around and flaring his flames when he noticed that he wasn't alone. He let them simmer when he recognized her, shaking himself off and glancing back towards his enemies, before relaying what had happened.

"Wait, what?" Melissa pulled out her Pokédex to look up what that power-reflecting move was. "Oh, it reflects Special attacks? Damn. I think all of your multiple-enemy attacks are Special attacks."

She was about to stow her Pokédex and send Wildfire off with another set of orders when she just barely caught the sound of someone shouting. She turned towards the source and strained her hearing. "Did they say we're surrounded?" She glanced down at Wildfire, who only flared his flames and spun to face the nearest group of enemies.

"Those are...Alolan Sandshrew. And Sandslash." Melissa squinted at them as more snow, ice, and wind was blasted their way. "And...Bergmite? I think?" She raised an arm and hunkered down behind it, pointing her Pokédex at them to see if they learned Mirror Coat. When it turned out they didn't, she smiled.

"Change of plans, Wildfire. Let's leave the ice cream cones to the others and take these guys down." Wildfire tilted his head towards her, watching his new opponents carefully. Melissa opened her mouth, hesitated, and then went for a less risky set of orders. "Hit them with a Heat Wave, Flame Wheel, and then Rollout."

Wildfire nodded sharply and then leaped back into battle. Melissa watched him go and wondered whether she should've risked it anyway. Try to leap in first, get surrounded by this new wave of enemies--but not too surrounded; he needed to be able to get back out, after all--and then let loose with an Eruption, Fire Blast, and Lava Plume while they didn't have to worry about friendly fire.

She shook her head and did her best to track the fight going on around her. Well, she couldn't take it back now and they didn't know how long this fight would be, so it was probably better not to go for the flashy, high-power moves so early. She could always use those moves later on, if the situation called for it.

The journey to the waterfall was hard on everyone involved, even Pokemon who would normally do well in this type of weather were having a hard time. On top of that, everyone could feel the ominous atmosphere grow as they got closer to their destination and once they all arrived it was clear why. Athena doesn’t even have the chance to get through her first sentence before she is interrupted by the unexpected ambush of Vanillite and its evolved forms. Knowing that there is no more time for talking, Athena and her Clefable immediately get to work fighting. Visibility immediately declines further than the storm itself had already caused once several Vanillite create Icy Wind to fill the area. Athena is barely visible and the trainers are left to think fast as there are Ice Beams blasting toward them from random directions plus an Avalanche threatening to crush them. The dark sphere whose cry had marked the beginning of these attacks sits atop the waterfall and watches.

The first Pokemon to start fighting is, Aster the Shiny Mareanie who had decided to burst out of her ball and insist on fighting. After deciding to single out one of the Vanillish, Aster charges in and is immediately blasted by one of the Ice Beams that have been shooting from seemingly random places due to it being so hard to see. This doesn’t seem to ruin any of her confidence though, and after tumbling in the snow she gets up and continues for the Vanillish she had her sights set on. The Pokemon’s attention is elsewhere so her Toxic hits without any issue. Now poisoned, the Vanillish sees Aster and lets out a cry in frustration. “Liiish!” The Pokemon immediately uses Acid Armor in order to defend itself and is then hit mercilessly by Aster’s Liquidation which does critical damage. The Vanillish is very angry now and rains down on the Shiny Mareanie with an Avalanche which quickly buries the Pokemon in the snow and hurts twice as much as it normally would. Aster isn’t done yet and leaps out of the snow mound and uses Venoshock, drenching the Vanillish in a toxic liquid that does a great deal of damage since it’s already poisoned. The Pokemon is clearly hurting at this point but isn’t ready to give up and uses a Mirror Coat which gives Aster double the pain the Vanillish just received. Both Pokemon are now hurt and panting while staring each other down.

Although Athena had practically disappeared in the storm, Happy the Flareon was able to catch up with her. The Clefable wasn’t holding back at all and was giving one of the Vanillish a serious Wake-Up Slap upon Happy’s arrival. As soon as the Clefable had paused for a second, Happy used that as his chance to Take Down the Vanillish himself before it had a chance to retaliate. The Vanillish now fights back and shoots Happy with a Beam of Ice which sends Happy rolling across the snow quite a bit and it takes him a while before he can regain his bearings because of the storm. “Help him out Selene! Use Disarming Voice!” Athena wants to make sure the Vanilluxe doesn’t have a chance to get Happy while he’s down and has her Clefable draw attention back to her. The Disarming Voice does exactly what Athena had hoped and not only hurts it, but it’s no longer looking at Happy. Back on his feet and not about to give up he uses his Rock Smash on the Vanillish and immediately afterwards blasts it in the face with Flamethrower. While the Vanillish is being overwhelmed with flames Athena sees this as an opportunity. “Selene! Finish it off with Meteor Mash!” The Clefable runs up as soon as the flames stop and pounds it with a Meteor Mash sending it flying. The Pokemon seems to be down for the count but there are other serious opponents out there so after a quick thank you Athena heads for her next fight.

Another battle was happening elsewhere, Millie the Miltank’s Thick Fat was thankfully helping her endure the endless storm around her so approaching her opponent while avoiding Ice Beams was challenging but not as difficult as it was for some of the other Pokemon. She also went right for one of the Vanilluxe and immediately Captivated it. With its guard slightly lowered, Millie charges in with a Zen Headbutt and smashes into the Vanilluxe causing it to flinch and immediately begins to spin into a Rollout smashing into it once more. The Vanilluxe is now angry and decides to take it out on not only Millie but everyone else around it too and unleashes a Hail storm into the already chaotic weather. Large balls of thick ice crash down and smash into Millie. Beside her is Balerion the Shiny Charmeleon who is after the other Vanilluxe who is further away. While being pelted with the Hail he uses his Ancient Power to hurl stones of ice at the Vanilluxe in order to grab its attention. It begins to charge toward Balerion but is momentarily interrupted when Stahl the Shiny Starmie shoots off a Confuse Ray at the unsuspecting Pokemon. Slightly dazed, the Vanilluxe doesn’t get to attack right away and Balerion uses this opportunity to charge in with a Flare Blitz, the flames cause the snow beneath his feet to melt but it is immediately replaced due to the storm. He crashes into the Vanilluxe and seems to hurt it quite a bit but also hurt himself. Surprisingly, the opponent is not burned but that doesn’t stop Balerion from clawing at the Vanilluxe with Metal Claw. The Vanilluxe uses Avalanche in retaliation, its confusion causes it to bury not on Balerion but itself as well. However, it’s barely phased by its own attack and comes out of the snow without a care.

While several of the Pokemon have aimed at specific targets, several other Pokemon have been holding off the incoming horde of Vanillite so that they don’t get in the way and before they overwhelm everyone. Stahl is shooting what almost feels like an endless wave of them with Swift and isn’t missing a single target. Whenever the occasional Vanillite slips by it is knocked back by a glowing light from Power Gem. Things seemed to be going very well for Stahl but sadly it doesn’t last. The Vanillite are tired of getting taken out with stars and work together to retaliate, all of them begin to hurl Icicle Spear’s at Stahl who is having trouble dodging the extremely large number of icicles being hurled at it and it begins to take its toll. Wildfire who used his Foresight to find a good place to fight, noticed Stahl having trouble and used his own Swift to start pushing back the extra Vanillite who were outnumbering Stahl’s Swift. This group seems to be under control again and Wildfire and Stahl work together for a bit with their Swifts. Somehow the waves feel endless, eventually Wildfire uses Heat Wave in hopes of putting a big dent in their numbers and it works at first but then it also causes them to fight back with Mirror Coat which hurts Wildfire quite a bit.

Defending from another direction is Kong the Slaking who currently seems to be enjoying himself but who knows how long that will last before he gets bored. He swings his Hammer Arm and knocks out an entire line of incoming Vanillite. And that about does it for his interest, he Traunts for a bit and decides to take a moment to lay in the snow and just take in the atmosphere. Meanwhile, he has been getting surrounded by a bunch of very upset looking Vanillite who didn’t enjoy being knocked around by him. Some of them decide to use Acid Armor in order to protect themselves while others ambush him with a bright Mirror Shot which surprises him. It actually surprises him enough to bring his interest back into the battle. He slowly gets up and looks at the group of Vanillite who flashed that move at him and slowly raises his fist into the air and then brings it down for a powerful Dynamic Punch. Of course, he completely misses the group that had attacked him since his accuracy was suffering but he does manage to hit the group that was covered in their Acid Armor and they are looking a bit confused. Satisfied with his only barely successful revenge, he is bored once again and lays back in the snow to Traunt for a bit more. Annoyed, the Vanillite begin to use Hail which pelt not only Kong but some of the surrounding allies as well. Akame the Pawniard wasn’t too far away from Kong and had just got done using Magnet Rise and was now dealing with the hail that Kong’s opponents had kicked up, fortunately being levitated helped her dodge some of the incoming balls of ice. After being pelted a few times and kicking some rocks out of the snow, it became clear that her Stealth Rocks were needed to not only shield her from incoming Pokemon, but from the large balls of ice being hurled at her as well. The incoming Vanillite stop their charge and begin to hurl Icicle Spears at Akane, breaking her rocks away and immediately overwhelming her with their attack. She isn’t about to back down though and decides to get some Revenge and smashes into a number of the Vanillite with twice as much damage as they were dishing out. They didn’t like being surprised like that and a few of them now appear to be starting an Uproar out of frustration.

Everyone’s battle is tough, there is not a single Pokemon that isn’t giving it their all. The Glalie continues to watch from atop the waterfall, seemingly not making a move but its presence can’t help but be felt by all. “This isn’t good!! Everyone, we’re surrounded!” Athena, who had been on her way over to help fight one of the Vanilluxe has just made a discovery. Everyone had been so distracted with their own fights that they hadn’t noticed that not all of the ice surrounding them was still. There were what appeared to be balls of ice rolling through the snow beside small moving glaciers from every direction and they were quickly closing in on the trainers and their Pokemon. After closing the distance, those balls of ice almost simultaneously begin to open up revealing many Alolan Sandshrew who waste no time making the weather even worse by blasting Powder Snow in what seems to be every direction. The many Bergmite beside them have no problem joining in and use their Icy Wind to continue what the Vanillite had started earlier. “Sandslash!!!” Suddenly, the cries of two Alolan Sandslash echo through the air, drawing attention to where they stand just behind the Bergmite and Alolan Sandshrew. There is a pause of silence where the only thing everyone hears is the whistle of the strong winds from the storm. This moment of peace doesn’t last long though, the Glalie at the top of the waterfall lets out another one of its cries and the new opponents along with the old, charge into battle.

In order to keep things organized for us to update, please use only 1 Pokemon in combat at a time and order up to no more than 3 attacks at a time. Reminder: this campaign will be updated every weekend around Saturday/Sunday, so if you are unable to reply in time do not worry. There is no penalty for missing an update; simply reply to the latest update to keep up with the plot. Please reply in DeepSkyBlue

The situation was going from bad to worse, but for some reason, the more complicated their situation became, the more excited Rorik felt.

It makes no sense. I am a man of science!By all accounts, I should be disgusted with all this violence, I should stay back as a strategist, or even avoid this region altogether. Then why? Why does this feel so right?

Skilled Trainers, every one of them, brought the fight to the horde of living ice cones with considerable success at first. Keith Masters, a Trainer whose skill had been publicly lauded by the foreigner Levin Sanders - Gottfried's current challenger - displayed the full extent of his abilities, unlocking his Shiny Mareanie's evolution amidst such adversity. Elite Four's legendary Trainer Lucas plowed through the opposition with his massive Slaking. Another of the Elite Four, Gary, maneuvered a tiny Pawniard with frightening skill around the enemy hordes, blocking as effectively as it dodged. Rorik only regretted being unable to join forces with Alex Blackhall once again, as they had back during the War of the Roses - but he reasoned the veteran Trainer had probably offered his services to protect the town instead. If so, they'd be in good hands.

Stahl, as usual, behaved remarkably. Its Swift pelted a whole wave of Vanillite, pushing them away for as long as it could hold them, while blasting away any rogue infantry with Power Gem. It was a glorious display of strategy and competence, as per the Starmie's standards, but the crown jewel of its performance was the Confuse Ray that gave Jayson's Balerion an opening to strike down Vanilluxe.
However, even Stahl couldn't hold its own forever, and once the enemy troops began to overwhelm it with a veritable storm of Icicle Spears, veteran Trainer Melissa and her Cyndaquil Wildfire joined the fray, aiding their efforts to Rorik's with some Swift and Heat Waves of their own.

She was the one who helped save several Pokemon when the two Legendary Electric Pokemon clashed in the Cascadian Archipelago, wasn't she?

With such an elite team of trainers tackling this disaster, there was no way they could lose. Even Rorik, usually pessimistic, was willing to believe in their success... until the Vanillite adapted to their joint offense and raised deadly Mirror Coats that meant his long-range strategy was effectively shut down. And to make matters worse, they soon became surrounded by two other regiments of ice soldiers: Bergmite and Alola-born Sandshrew captained by two Sandslash...

Interesting. Those Sandshrew... I thought they couldn't...

Intrigued by the uncommon flexibility of the ice Sandshrew, Rorik aimed his PokéDex at them to confirm his suspicion. He hadn't used the device in ages, now that he thought about it...

Sandshrew, Alola Form: It lives on snowy mountains. Its steel shell is very hard—so much so, it can't roll its body up into a ball.

"Precisely," he murmured to himself. "They shouldn't be able to curl this much... what curious specimens!"

Still, he couldn't afford to ignore the main issue: if they had been struggling against a single group of foes, how could they possibly measure up to three? Surrounded by ice, vastly outnumbered and injuries starting to pile up... what could they do?

Suddenly, a strange warm sensation ran through his arm, a kind of heat that had no place in that frozen desolation. Looking down, he saw Volg and his undying flame, and that brought a smile to his face. Of course.

"When the war changes, so must the warrior..."

It was an old Heimaln saying, one that dated back to the age of conquest, when Heiml was the mightiest region in the known world. They were a tribe of warriors, battle-tested in the most merciless of terrains: the icy mountains of their own homeland. That was why, no matter who they fought, Heimlan troops always adapted effortlessly to the battlefield, because none was as unforgiving as the one they had inhabited their whole lives. Rorik had never been one to care for battle and glory, but now, for some reason, he began to crave it, the longer this standoff lasted... Was his Heimlan blood finally beginning to boil?

"We need to tilt the scales in our favor," he finally said in a whisper. "We cannot keep up with them in numbers - we go for the beast's head!"

Rorik whistled, calling Stahl's attention through the ruckus.

"Stahl, good effort! Come back and have a rest," he said as he pulled a restorative balm from his Bag. "You can't wait any longer, can you?"

"I'm counting on you now. Get in there and leave a dent so severe in their frozen armour that they have no chance but to retreat!"

Roaring happily, the Charmeleon prepared to rush the front lines. But something, a newfound glimmer of reason, forced him to stop and listen to Rorik's instructions - the Baimon was indeed dormant.

"Thank you Volg. Listen, you have a skill that may just turn the tide of battle in our favour, and in favour of everyone else placing their hopes on fire. Cancel the snow and Hail of the battlefield with Sunny Day, then... then, well, you're the true warrior. I trust your judgement, good friend."

Moved by his Trainer's confidence, Volg growled, then stared at Balerion, the other Charmeleon in combat, and the way he measured up to Vanilluxe. He wasn't about to lag behind another of his kind, and immediately shifted his attention to the other General worth taking down - Sandslash. He would blow up a hole in the Sandshrew-Bergmite wall with a Flame Burst and dish out Fire Fangs to any who crossed his path towards the leader!

I hope we're making the right choice here - we can't handle the sheer number of enemies, will taking down their champions make life easier for us?... Please Volg, hang in there!

As the angry horde of Sneasels hissed and snarled, the group of trainers called forth their Pokemon, ready to defend the farm. While the trainers issued orders to their Pokemon, Weavile’s eyes narrowed and it munched on a berry, waiting to see who would face it head-on first. The two Cloud Garden trial captains had joined the fray as well, Jet’s Skarmory and Samuel’s Sudowoodo ready for battle. As they felt their advantage in numbers becoming weaker by the minute with all of these new opponents, the Sneasels grew restless and launched their next assault.

Blurs of black and magenta flew throughout the orchard as the Sneasel pounced into action. Bill’s Squirtle, Silver was first to retaliate, spraying a stream of Bubbles to knock a few of the Sneasels off their feet. Silver followed the strike up with a Water Gun to knock one of the Sneasels in the middle back into a tree and finished off the combo by ramming into it with a Tackle of his hard shell. The Sneasel slumped over, defeated, which did not sit well with its two allies that had been previously targeted by the Bubble. They converged on Silver, one of them striking him in the back with a Feint Attack while the other Scratched him on the shell for light damage.

Choux the Snubbull was the first to come to Silver’s defense, hey eyes glowing red and punched and kicked at a Sneasel with a flurry of Close Combat maneuvers, instantly knocking it out. As she panted to catch her breath, her guard lowered, she stared down the third Sneasel with a Scary Face, hoping to scare it off, but the weasel would not be deterred so easily. It quickly slipped behind the Snubbull and hit her with a Faint Attack causing her to become so surprised that her Rattled disposition caused her adrenaline to spike.

While all of the enemies darted about rapidly, only one calmly remained in place while eating its berry; Weavile. Nuhuko the Lunatone locked in on the big boss and fired forth a Power Gem, a reddish beam of light striking Weavile in the shoulder, causing it to drop its berry. If the Lunatone wanted its attention, it surely got it now. Leering angrily, the Weavile suddenly darted forward as fast as it could. However, once it got within striking distance of Nuhuko, the Lunatone released a blast of energy that distorted the very fabric of physics in the surrounding area. A cube-shaped dimension known as a Trick Room filled the clearing and appeared to warp the movement of the Pokemon caught in it. However, when Nuhuko turned its attention back to the Weavile, the boss was missing. Nuhuko began looking around for it, but by the time it was finally located, it was too late. Weavile had slipped into the Lunatone’s blind spot and struck it from behind with a Feint Attack for solid damage.

Back in the conflict with Sneasel, Choux seemed to be running circles around her foe as her Rattled adrenaline gave her an advantage over the Sneasel she had shown her Scary Face to. However, as the properties of the Trick Room warped the area, Choux suddenly found herself much slower than the Sneasel, who Scratched her vengefully. All she could muster after that was to clamp down her jaw on the Sneasel’s arm with a light Bite.

Caeda the Skarmory swooped into action next, crashing into the ground with her talons out first in order to kick up a Rock Slide that battered several Sneasel for considerable damage. She then kicked back off the ground and flew into the heart of the Trick Room, ramming the Weavile with her tough Iron Head. Weavile groaned as the Skarmory continued her fly-by, gliding out of range. Hotstuff the Charmander began concentrating deeply, ready to Focus all of his energy into a massive Punch on the Weavile, but was immediately knocked onto his back as a random Sneasel promptly Faked him Out. He blew forth a Flamethrower in frustration, catching the Sneasel more than the Weavile, but dealing a good amount of damage nonetheless. As the Sneasel fell in defeat, Hotstuff followed up with a second Flamethrower, catching the Weavile head-on this time. Weavile hissed as some of the snow melted and rammed into Hotstuff with a strong Quick Attack.

With Sneasel swarming the Pokemon from all directions, a contingent of Pokemon stood firmly to take them all on. Lune the Eevee made her best attempt to kick up a Sand Attack, slapping a paw full of snow in a Sneasel’s face to little effect. It did buy her time however to pepper it with a flurry of Swift stars. Louise the Mawile emitted a Sweet Scent from her Venus fly trap-like horn which lured in a number of Sneasel. She clocked one of them with a Power-Up Punch, her fist glowing orange and further bolstering her attack. She then grappled the Sneasel tightly and after planting her horn firmly in the ground, she flipped both herself and the Sneasel high into the air before slamming her opponent down on the ground with a hard Seismic Toss, knocking the Sneasel out in the process.

Meanwhile, Rotom as well as Belial the Houndoom faced off against their own mobs of Sneasels. Rotom began Charging up as much electricity as it could before Discharging it on a group of unsuspecting Sneasels for considerable damage. As it prepared to strike again, one of the Sneasels snuck up from behind and hit it with a Feint Attack for decent damage before becoming fried by a second Discharge that knocked it out and paralyzed two other weakened Sneasels. Belial the Houndoom picked out a Sneasel from the group and singed it with an Ember. As the Sneasel retaliated with a Quick Attack, the Houndoom swatted it down with a strike from his pointed Iron Tail, knocking it out.

As the remaining Pokemon converge on the Weavile, a number of Sneasels came to its defense. Looking to take out the Trick Room to regain their advantage, the Sneasels circled around Nuhuko menacingly. A pair of Sneasel lunged forward, hitting the wall of the dimension with an array of Fury Swipes which caused the walls to momentarily shake and glitch out, but as Lune offered the Lunatone a Helping Hand, Nuhuko was able to resupply the field with more energy.

It was now Leo the Spheal’s time to shine as the proud little sea lion pup barked his fiercest Growl in Weavile’s direction, getting its attention. As he then Curled into a Defensive ball, Rika the Espeon sped through the crowd of Sneasels, hitting a few of them with a Quick Attack before ramming into Weavile with a Tackle. Weavile was knocked backwards, losing its balance just in time for Caeda the Skarmory to swoop back in and ram it with another Iron Head. Leo then rolled forward, and with encouragement from Rika’s Helping Hand, collided with the Weavile for a powerful Rollout.

Weavile had taken quite a few beatings at this point and Screeched loudly in a combination of anger, frustration, and pain, hurting everyone’s ears in the process. Weavile began glowing a light blue before sending an Avalanche of snow and ice in all directions. Caeda, Rika, Nuhuko, Hotstuff, Lune, and Leo were all caught in the powerful attack, although Hotstuff’s natural resistances and Leo’s Thick Fat lessened the blow for them individually.

“Great job, guys!” Jet called out as he took care of a Sneasel with his Skarmory. The Weavile was breathing pretty heavily but appeared to still have some fight left in it. A few of the trainers’ Pokemon had taken some decent hits as well, but for the most part everyone was still raring to go. As the trainers began to assess the situation, an old and frantic voice crackled over Jet’s walkie-talkie. “Jet! We need you over here! Swinub… they’re taking over the garden!”

Jet bit his lip and summoned one of the Mudsdale-drawn carriages. “Don’t worry, we can handle things here,” Samuel spoke with a reassuring nod. Jet nodded back and addressed the group, “Looks like we’re needed over at the Rose Garden as well. You’re welcome to remain here and help out against the Sneasels, but if you wish to tag along, come with me! The other carriage will remain here if any of you need a ride later.” Jet boarded the sleigh with the trainers who volunteered to follow him and they were on their way.

~~~~~~~

It was a short ride back the way they came as they headed in the direction of town. However, before they arrived there, they turned west and made their way toward the Rose Garden. What was once a beautiful garden filled with vibrant flowers was now a winter wonderland, filled with wilted grass type Pokemon. There was a sea of brown across the garden as well, as a horde of Swinub had taken over and were grazing on various plants as well as rooting up mud and dirt everywhere.

The group fought their way through the icy little boars before making it to the center of the garden where they found Primrose, the young heiress of the garden huddled with her Musharna for warmth while the old gardener Poppy attempted to hold off Swinub with a rake. “Thank goodness!” Poppy breathed a sigh of relief, “Everyone was stuck at town, but my Gogoat and I fought our way here to protect young Mistress Nightingale. Gogoat didn’t last too long, unfortunately, and young mistress has gotten a bit of a chill here…” Primrose had Poppy’s coat draped over her shoulders and was barely conscious as the cold had made her too weak to stand. The storm had come too suddenly, and she was unable to escape the garden in time before it hit. “Alright guys, let’s take care of these Swinub so we can get Primrose safely back to town!” Jet called out, calling forth his Skarmory once again.

You are now presented with a choice. You may either continue fighting Sneasel and Weavile at the Oran Orchard, or you may take on Swinub at the Rose Garden. If you choose the latter, simply include the travel and your new orders in your response. There will be ample opportunities to move between the areas each week, so do not worry about being left behind!

Nuhuko took point as a trainer's Squirtle rushed at the Sneasel hordes, focusing rock energy into a beam before striking the Weavile in the shoulder as it stood there casually eating the berry. The impact had the desired effect from Alex: the berry fell onto the snow, and the feline leered angrily at the pumpkin moon before rushing in to strike back. With the situation as it was, the Lunatone focused deeply before releasing a blast of energy into the ground, which spread forth a translucent field of energy like panels, distorting movement within as the trick room came into effect. Having executed the move, Nuhuko returned to the Weavile to find it had vanished, and a couple of seconds of searching caught the feline as it clocked him with a feint attack.

"Ach, shoulda saw that coming..." Alex grumbled, as he had taken a risk to aid the others around him. The field would slow the Sneasel groups down, but Nuhuko was more focused on keeping it up as long as possible: while Trick Room normally lasted a couple of minutes, with concentration it could be extended for a bit longer. Thankfully several others had the same idea, a Skarmory crashing into Weavile for a solid hit while an unusual vibrant cobalt Charmander bathed it in a flamethrower while the Sneasel were battered back by several other trainers. Weavile had backup however, as the Lunatone found himself surrounded by Sneasel trying to shatter the room, and it seemed likely to happen...

...when an Eevee, unbeknownst to the assailants, gave a clap and supported the meteorite with a helping hand, energy flowing through him as the distortion held strong with the aid. As this happened, a Spheal, suitable for this terrain, curled up and rammed into the Weavile, after an Espeon knocked it off balance and Skarmory swooped for another round. Being ganged up on, the dark type screeched angrily before calling an avalanche of snow and ice to barrel onto the group, Nuhuko taking a considerable hit from the attack.

"You hanging in there, Nuhuko?" the trainer called, preparing to order another round of all-out offence on Weavile when the man called Jet received a call from an older voice, which made his blood run cold: the rose garden was under attack from Swinub. He grit his teeth: while Weavile and the Sneasel were dangerous, the grass pokemon of the garden were especially vulnerable to the cold snap, and he felt the need to support them over there.

"Nuhuko, get back here, change of plans! The others can cripple the big guy with the remainder of the room," he called, the psychic pokemon's concentration breaking momentarily. Without him, the Trick Room wouldn't hold for long, but perhaps that was all that was required to push down Weavile. Giving a cold stare at the dark type, the Lunatone shimmered before teleporting beside Alex, before being recalled to recuperate, in a fashion that would ensure no dirty pursuit antics from the scavengers.

Boarding the carriage with others, Alex's heart sank as he found the once beautiful Rose Garden as nought but a wintry wasteland, wilting grass pokemon littering the area as a carpet of brown ravaged the area. The sight was sorry, but what hit him harder was seeing the vanguard of the garden: the old gardener Poppy holding off the greedy pigs with nought but a rake, his Gogoat succumbing to the unnatural chill, while the heiress shivered, supported by her Musharna, too weak to stand. She was a young woman, nobody deserved this, and needed immediate medical attention before the exposure really caused her lasting damage. The priority to Alex was the safety of all affected, and Primrose needed warmed up, immediately.

"Isaac, emergency!" he barked, flinging a pokeball forth that burst to reveal the dark-skinned Marowak, bone quickly bursting into spectral fire at both ends. Looking over the scene, he turned his head to Alex, giving a thumbs up. "Clear a path to the carriage for those two over there and the Musharna with a flame wheel, then keep the youngster warm while they make their escape. Should the Swinub approach, meet them with a shadow bone and thwart any icy assaults with a merciles flamethrower. Their safety is paramount."

Giving a grunt, the Marowak whirled bone around himself, ready to burst into flames and scathe a path through to Primrose, all while Alex prepared himself to take after him and help Musharna carry Primrose out of there, awkward gauntlet be damned.

The journey to the waterfall was hard on everyone involved, even Pokemon who would normally do well in this type of weather were having a hard time. On top of that, everyone could feel the ominous atmosphere grow as they got closer to their destination and once they all arrived it was clear why. Athena doesn’t even have the chance to get through her first sentence before she is interrupted by the unexpected ambush of Vanillite and its evolved forms. Knowing that there is no more time for talking, Athena and her Clefable immediately get to work fighting. Visibility immediately declines further than the storm itself had already caused once several Vanillite create Icy Wind to fill the area. Athena is barely visible and the trainers are left to think fast as there are Ice Beams blasting toward them from random directions plus an Avalanche threatening to crush them. The dark sphere whose cry had marked the beginning of these attacks sits atop the waterfall and watches.

The first Pokemon to start fighting is, Aster the Shiny Mareanie who had decided to burst out of her ball and insist on fighting. After deciding to single out one of the Vanillish, Aster charges in and is immediately blasted by one of the Ice Beams that have been shooting from seemingly random places due to it being so hard to see. This doesn’t seem to ruin any of her confidence though, and after tumbling in the snow she gets up and continues for the Vanillish she had her sights set on. The Pokemon’s attention is elsewhere so her Toxic hits without any issue. Now poisoned, the Vanillish sees Aster and lets out a cry in frustration. “Liiish!” The Pokemon immediately uses Acid Armor in order to defend itself and is then hit mercilessly by Aster’s Liquidation which does critical damage. The Vanillish is very angry now and rains down on the Shiny Mareanie with an Avalanche which quickly buries the Pokemon in the snow and hurts twice as much as it normally would. Aster isn’t done yet and leaps out of the snow mound and uses Venoshock, drenching the Vanillish in a toxic liquid that does a great deal of damage since it’s already poisoned. The Pokemon is clearly hurting at this point but isn’t ready to give up and uses a Mirror Coat which gives Aster double the pain the Vanillish just received. Both Pokemon are now hurt and panting while staring each other down.

Although Athena had practically disappeared in the storm, Happy the Flareon was able to catch up with her. The Clefable wasn’t holding back at all and was giving one of the Vanillish a serious Wake-Up Slap upon Happy’s arrival. As soon as the Clefable had paused for a second, Happy used that as his chance to Take Down the Vanillish himself before it had a chance to retaliate. The Vanillish now fights back and shoots Happy with a Beam of Ice which sends Happy rolling across the snow quite a bit and it takes him a while before he can regain his bearings because of the storm. “Help him out Selene! Use Disarming Voice!” Athena wants to make sure the Vanilluxe doesn’t have a chance to get Happy while he’s down and has her Clefable draw attention back to her. The Disarming Voice does exactly what Athena had hoped and not only hurts it, but it’s no longer looking at Happy. Back on his feet and not about to give up he uses his Rock Smash on the Vanillish and immediately afterwards blasts it in the face with Flamethrower. While the Vanillish is being overwhelmed with flames Athena sees this as an opportunity. “Selene! Finish it off with Meteor Mash!” The Clefable runs up as soon as the flames stop and pounds it with a Meteor Mash sending it flying. The Pokemon seems to be down for the count but there are other serious opponents out there so after a quick thank you Athena heads for her next fight.

Another battle was happening elsewhere, Millie the Miltank’s Thick Fat was thankfully helping her endure the endless storm around her so approaching her opponent while avoiding Ice Beams was challenging but not as difficult as it was for some of the other Pokemon. She also went right for one of the Vanilluxe and immediately Captivated it. With its guard slightly lowered, Millie charges in with a Zen Headbutt and smashes into the Vanilluxe causing it to flinch and immediately begins to spin into a Rollout smashing into it once more. The Vanilluxe is now angry and decides to take it out on not only Millie but everyone else around it too and unleashes a Hail storm into the already chaotic weather. Large balls of thick ice crash down and smash into Millie. Beside her is Balerion the Shiny Charmeleon who is after the other Vanilluxe who is further away. While being pelted with the Hail he uses his Ancient Power to hurl stones of ice at the Vanilluxe in order to grab its attention. It begins to charge toward Balerion but is momentarily interrupted when Stahl the Shiny Starmie shoots off a Confuse Ray at the unsuspecting Pokemon. Slightly dazed, the Vanilluxe doesn’t get to attack right away and Balerion uses this opportunity to charge in with a Flare Blitz, the flames cause the snow beneath his feet to melt but it is immediately replaced due to the storm. He crashes into the Vanilluxe and seems to hurt it quite a bit but also hurt himself. Surprisingly, the opponent is not burned but that doesn’t stop Balerion from clawing at the Vanilluxe with Metal Claw. The Vanilluxe uses Avalanche in retaliation, its confusion causes it to bury not on Balerion but itself as well. However, it’s barely phased by its own attack and comes out of the snow without a care.

While several of the Pokemon have aimed at specific targets, several other Pokemon have been holding off the incoming horde of Vanillite so that they don’t get in the way and before they overwhelm everyone. Stahl is shooting what almost feels like an endless wave of them with Swift and isn’t missing a single target. Whenever the occasional Vanillite slips by it is knocked back by a glowing light from Power Gem. Things seemed to be going very well for Stahl but sadly it doesn’t last. The Vanillite are tired of getting taken out with stars and work together to retaliate, all of them begin to hurl Icicle Spear’s at Stahl who is having trouble dodging the extremely large number of icicles being hurled at it and it begins to take its toll. Wildfire who used his Foresight to find a good place to fight, noticed Stahl having trouble and used his own Swift to start pushing back the extra Vanillite who were outnumbering Stahl’s Swift. This group seems to be under control again and Wildfire and Stahl work together for a bit with their Swifts. Somehow the waves feel endless, eventually Wildfire uses Heat Wave in hopes of putting a big dent in their numbers and it works at first but then it also causes them to fight back with Mirror Coat which hurts Wildfire quite a bit.

Defending from another direction is Kong the Slaking who currently seems to be enjoying himself but who knows how long that will last before he gets bored. He swings his Hammer Arm and knocks out an entire line of incoming Vanillite. And that about does it for his interest, he Traunts for a bit and decides to take a moment to lay in the snow and just take in the atmosphere. Meanwhile, he has been getting surrounded by a bunch of very upset looking Vanillite who didn’t enjoy being knocked around by him. Some of them decide to use Acid Armor in order to protect themselves while others ambush him with a bright Mirror Shot which surprises him. It actually surprises him enough to bring his interest back into the battle. He slowly gets up and looks at the group of Vanillite who flashed that move at him and slowly raises his fist into the air and then brings it down for a powerful Dynamic Punch. Of course, he completely misses the group that had attacked him since his accuracy was suffering but he does manage to hit the group that was covered in their Acid Armor and they are looking a bit confused. Satisfied with his only barely successful revenge, he is bored once again and lays back in the snow to Traunt for a bit more. Annoyed, the Vanillite begin to use Hail which pelt not only Kong but some of the surrounding allies as well. Akame the Pawniard wasn’t too far away from Kong and had just got done using Magnet Rise and was now dealing with the hail that Kong’s opponents had kicked up, fortunately being levitated helped her dodge some of the incoming balls of ice. After being pelted a few times and kicking some rocks out of the snow, it became clear that her Stealth Rocks were needed to not only shield her from incoming Pokemon, but from the large balls of ice being hurled at her as well. The incoming Vanillite stop their charge and begin to hurl Icicle Spears at Akane, breaking her rocks away and immediately overwhelming her with their attack. She isn’t about to back down though and decides to get some Revenge and smashes into a number of the Vanillite with twice as much damage as they were dishing out. They didn’t like being surprised like that and a few of them now appear to be starting an Uproar out of frustration.

Everyone’s battle is tough, there is not a single Pokemon that isn’t giving it their all. The Glalie continues to watch from atop the waterfall, seemingly not making a move but its presence can’t help but be felt by all. “This isn’t good!! Everyone, we’re surrounded!” Athena, who had been on her way over to help fight one of the Vanilluxe has just made a discovery. Everyone had been so distracted with their own fights that they hadn’t noticed that not all of the ice surrounding them was still. There were what appeared to be balls of ice rolling through the snow beside small moving glaciers from every direction and they were quickly closing in on the trainers and their Pokemon. After closing the distance, those balls of ice almost simultaneously begin to open up revealing many Alolan Sandshrew who waste no time making the weather even worse by blasting Powder Snow in what seems to be every direction. The many Bergmite beside them have no problem joining in and use their Icy Wind to continue what the Vanillite had started earlier. “Sandslash!!!” Suddenly, the cries of two Alolan Sandslash echo through the air, drawing attention to where they stand just behind the Bergmite and Alolan Sandshrew. There is a pause of silence where the only thing everyone hears is the whistle of the strong winds from the storm. This moment of peace doesn’t last long though, the Glalie at the top of the waterfall lets out another one of its cries and the new opponents along with the old, charge into battle.

In order to keep things organized for us to update, please use only 1 Pokemon in combat at a time and order up to no more than 3 attacks at a time. Reminder: this campaign will be updated every weekend around Saturday/Sunday, so if you are unable to reply in time do not worry. There is no penalty for missing an update; simply reply to the latest update to keep up with the plot. Please reply in DeepSkyBlue

Isaac blinked, he was trapped --- surrounded by the bittercold of the winter. All sorts of Pokemon surrounded him, those accompanied by their trainers, and those who were closing in on him, ready to strike at any moment. Morgana clenched his jaw, towering over his trainer who he stood next to. It was chaotic, multiple gigantic ice cream Pokemon floated near other trainers --- only to be blasted away by all sorts of aggressive attacks sent forth by the powerful trainers near him. He almost felt inadequate, he was just a musician from Unova. Nothing more. He was a man who missed his lover, a trainer strictly for the glory and muse that came with it. He loved his Pokemon dearly, but he would much rather be using them in his shows than out here in a frozen wasteland.

He was roused from his thoughts by Morgana scuffing the back of his head with his enormous paws, as if to say "Get your SHIT together, Isaac. We have bigger fish to fry." His eyes watched the other trainers, their Pokemon were so valiant... he didn't know a single person here. But that was a trainer's duty, right? Come to the aid of others with your Pokemon, no matter the danger or the fear in your heart. However, for the most part, it seemed as though this group had the Pokemon handled. He could feel Morgana's belt exuding heat next to him, it was nice in such an awful storm. Actually, speaking of that... was the weather getting worse? He looked around, where his eyes landed on two Alolan Sandslash and an entire hoard of Alolan Sandshrew.

"Mona... those are from your home region, right?" Asked Isaac, pointing towards the onslaught that was rolling towards them. Morgana gave a gruff purr, itching for a fight. He glanced towards the rolling balls, intent on grabbing one in his huge hands and throwing it hard back into the fresh virgin snow. He watched as some trainers seemed to also catch onto the Sandshrew that were barreling towards them. He watched as a few changed their strategies on the fly, and he looked at Morgana --- he smirked at his shorter trainer, awaiting commands.

"I want to do something first, Mona... give me a moment." Isaac fished out his Pokedex, scanning one of the Sandshrew that Morgana was going to be barreling itself into. He might as well know all he could about this Pokemon... for his own purposes.

"Alright Mona, run in there and Lick one of those balls. Maybe we'll land a paralysis if we're lucky. Follow it up with a Fire Fang! Make em' reel back in agony." Morgana smirked, running towards the Sandshrew with murderous intent. He was ready to suplex one if he needed, but for now he would follow his trainer's commands. Isaac pulled a cigarette to his lips, lighting it with shaking cold hands.

The journey to the waterfall was hard on everyone involved, even Pokemon who would normally do well in this type of weather were having a hard time. On top of that, everyone could feel the ominous atmosphere grow as they got closer to their destination and once they all arrived it was clear why. Athena doesn’t even have the chance to get through her first sentence before she is interrupted by the unexpected ambush of Vanillite and its evolved forms. Knowing that there is no more time for talking, Athena and her Clefable immediately get to work fighting. Visibility immediately declines further than the storm itself had already caused once several Vanillite create Icy Wind to fill the area. Athena is barely visible and the trainers are left to think fast as there are Ice Beams blasting toward them from random directions plus an Avalanche threatening to crush them. The dark sphere whose cry had marked the beginning of these attacks sits atop the waterfall and watches.

The first Pokemon to start fighting is, Aster the Shiny Mareanie who had decided to burst out of her ball and insist on fighting. After deciding to single out one of the Vanillish, Aster charges in and is immediately blasted by one of the Ice Beams that have been shooting from seemingly random places due to it being so hard to see. This doesn’t seem to ruin any of her confidence though, and after tumbling in the snow she gets up and continues for the Vanillish she had her sights set on. The Pokemon’s attention is elsewhere so her Toxic hits without any issue. Now poisoned, the Vanillish sees Aster and lets out a cry in frustration. “Liiish!” The Pokemon immediately uses Acid Armor in order to defend itself and is then hit mercilessly by Aster’s Liquidation which does critical damage. The Vanillish is very angry now and rains down on the Shiny Mareanie with an Avalanche which quickly buries the Pokemon in the snow and hurts twice as much as it normally would. Aster isn’t done yet and leaps out of the snow mound and uses Venoshock, drenching the Vanillish in a toxic liquid that does a great deal of damage since it’s already poisoned. The Pokemon is clearly hurting at this point but isn’t ready to give up and uses a Mirror Coat which gives Aster double the pain the Vanillish just received. Both Pokemon are now hurt and panting while staring each other down.

Although Athena had practically disappeared in the storm, Happy the Flareon was able to catch up with her. The Clefable wasn’t holding back at all and was giving one of the Vanillish a serious Wake-Up Slap upon Happy’s arrival. As soon as the Clefable had paused for a second, Happy used that as his chance to Take Down the Vanillish himself before it had a chance to retaliate. The Vanillish now fights back and shoots Happy with a Beam of Ice which sends Happy rolling across the snow quite a bit and it takes him a while before he can regain his bearings because of the storm. “Help him out Selene! Use Disarming Voice!” Athena wants to make sure the Vanilluxe doesn’t have a chance to get Happy while he’s down and has her Clefable draw attention back to her. The Disarming Voice does exactly what Athena had hoped and not only hurts it, but it’s no longer looking at Happy. Back on his feet and not about to give up he uses his Rock Smash on the Vanillish and immediately afterwards blasts it in the face with Flamethrower. While the Vanillish is being overwhelmed with flames Athena sees this as an opportunity. “Selene! Finish it off with Meteor Mash!” The Clefable runs up as soon as the flames stop and pounds it with a Meteor Mash sending it flying. The Pokemon seems to be down for the count but there are other serious opponents out there so after a quick thank you Athena heads for her next fight.

Another battle was happening elsewhere, Millie the Miltank’s Thick Fat was thankfully helping her endure the endless storm around her so approaching her opponent while avoiding Ice Beams was challenging but not as difficult as it was for some of the other Pokemon. She also went right for one of the Vanilluxe and immediately Captivated it. With its guard slightly lowered, Millie charges in with a Zen Headbutt and smashes into the Vanilluxe causing it to flinch and immediately begins to spin into a Rollout smashing into it once more. The Vanilluxe is now angry and decides to take it out on not only Millie but everyone else around it too and unleashes a Hail storm into the already chaotic weather. Large balls of thick ice crash down and smash into Millie. Beside her is Balerion the Shiny Charmeleon who is after the other Vanilluxe who is further away. While being pelted with the Hail he uses his Ancient Power to hurl stones of ice at the Vanilluxe in order to grab its attention. It begins to charge toward Balerion but is momentarily interrupted when Stahl the Shiny Starmie shoots off a Confuse Ray at the unsuspecting Pokemon. Slightly dazed, the Vanilluxe doesn’t get to attack right away and Balerion uses this opportunity to charge in with a Flare Blitz, the flames cause the snow beneath his feet to melt but it is immediately replaced due to the storm. He crashes into the Vanilluxe and seems to hurt it quite a bit but also hurt himself. Surprisingly, the opponent is not burned but that doesn’t stop Balerion from clawing at the Vanilluxe with Metal Claw. The Vanilluxe uses Avalanche in retaliation, its confusion causes it to bury not on Balerion but itself as well. However, it’s barely phased by its own attack and comes out of the snow without a care.

While several of the Pokemon have aimed at specific targets, several other Pokemon have been holding off the incoming horde of Vanillite so that they don’t get in the way and before they overwhelm everyone. Stahl is shooting what almost feels like an endless wave of them with Swift and isn’t missing a single target. Whenever the occasional Vanillite slips by it is knocked back by a glowing light from Power Gem. Things seemed to be going very well for Stahl but sadly it doesn’t last. The Vanillite are tired of getting taken out with stars and work together to retaliate, all of them begin to hurl Icicle Spear’s at Stahl who is having trouble dodging the extremely large number of icicles being hurled at it and it begins to take its toll. Wildfire who used his Foresight to find a good place to fight, noticed Stahl having trouble and used his own Swift to start pushing back the extra Vanillite who were outnumbering Stahl’s Swift. This group seems to be under control again and Wildfire and Stahl work together for a bit with their Swifts. Somehow the waves feel endless, eventually Wildfire uses Heat Wave in hopes of putting a big dent in their numbers and it works at first but then it also causes them to fight back with Mirror Coat which hurts Wildfire quite a bit.

Defending from another direction is Kong the Slaking who currently seems to be enjoying himself but who knows how long that will last before he gets bored. He swings his Hammer Arm and knocks out an entire line of incoming Vanillite. And that about does it for his interest, he Traunts for a bit and decides to take a moment to lay in the snow and just take in the atmosphere. Meanwhile, he has been getting surrounded by a bunch of very upset looking Vanillite who didn’t enjoy being knocked around by him. Some of them decide to use Acid Armor in order to protect themselves while others ambush him with a bright Mirror Shot which surprises him. It actually surprises him enough to bring his interest back into the battle. He slowly gets up and looks at the group of Vanillite who flashed that move at him and slowly raises his fist into the air and then brings it down for a powerful Dynamic Punch. Of course, he completely misses the group that had attacked him since his accuracy was suffering but he does manage to hit the group that was covered in their Acid Armor and they are looking a bit confused. Satisfied with his only barely successful revenge, he is bored once again and lays back in the snow to Traunt for a bit more. Annoyed, the Vanillite begin to use Hail which pelt not only Kong but some of the surrounding allies as well. Akame the Pawniard wasn’t too far away from Kong and had just got done using Magnet Rise and was now dealing with the hail that Kong’s opponents had kicked up, fortunately being levitated helped her dodge some of the incoming balls of ice. After being pelted a few times and kicking some rocks out of the snow, it became clear that her Stealth Rocks were needed to not only shield her from incoming Pokemon, but from the large balls of ice being hurled at her as well. The incoming Vanillite stop their charge and begin to hurl Icicle Spears at Akane, breaking her rocks away and immediately overwhelming her with their attack. She isn’t about to back down though and decides to get some Revenge and smashes into a number of the Vanillite with twice as much damage as they were dishing out. They didn’t like being surprised like that and a few of them now appear to be starting an Uproar out of frustration.

Everyone’s battle is tough, there is not a single Pokemon that isn’t giving it their all. The Glalie continues to watch from atop the waterfall, seemingly not making a move but its presence can’t help but be felt by all. “This isn’t good!! Everyone, we’re surrounded!” Athena, who had been on her way over to help fight one of the Vanilluxe has just made a discovery. Everyone had been so distracted with their own fights that they hadn’t noticed that not all of the ice surrounding them was still. There were what appeared to be balls of ice rolling through the snow beside small moving glaciers from every direction and they were quickly closing in on the trainers and their Pokemon. After closing the distance, those balls of ice almost simultaneously begin to open up revealing many Alolan Sandshrew who waste no time making the weather even worse by blasting Powder Snow in what seems to be every direction. The many Bergmite beside them have no problem joining in and use their Icy Wind to continue what the Vanillite had started earlier. “Sandslash!!!” Suddenly, the cries of two Alolan Sandslash echo through the air, drawing attention to where they stand just behind the Bergmite and Alolan Sandshrew. There is a pause of silence where the only thing everyone hears is the whistle of the strong winds from the storm. This moment of peace doesn’t last long though, the Glalie at the top of the waterfall lets out another one of its cries and the new opponents along with the old, charge into battle.

In order to keep things organized for us to update, please use only 1 Pokemon in combat at a time and order up to no more than 3 attacks at a time. Reminder: this campaign will be updated every weekend around Saturday/Sunday, so if you are unable to reply in time do not worry. There is no penalty for missing an update; simply reply to the latest update to keep up with the plot. Please reply in DeepSkyBlue

Right when the battling was about to start, the Dream Ball on Hyrem's belt surprised him and opened up by itself, revealing a Froslass who floated next to her trainer with an excited look on her face as soon as she saw the Ice-types in front of the group. "Tsurara, what are you doing out of your ball?" Hyrem asked her. "Mmm, I could sense them from inside~" she explained, and it was then realized that her stare towards the Vanillite was one that begged for one of them to come close enough to her. "I may have eaten only one, and it was back when I was trapped inside a more..savage body, but that changes nothing! I never forget when something has...good taste." Tsurara's hungry stare intensified as she licked her lips. "I simply must help myself to one of them!"

"Tsurara, you do realize we're in a big battle here?" Hyrem asked. "And Happy's the one battling, if you go in there, you're just gonna get in the way of the other Pokemon here!"
"Aw, you're no fun," the Froslass pouted, crossing her arms and sighing as she continued to float next to Hyrem, Kenna, and Silas. "Oh well, I suppose letting someone else do the dirty work for me isn't all bad. All I need to do is just watch the carnage...and take in the rest of the scenery." She stared at the mysterious Pokemon watching from above and took a keen interest; if it was what she thought it was, she would be in for quite a show.

Hyrem soon turned his attention to the odd looking, hot pink creature with Keith as she did a number on one of the three Vanillish thanks to her Toxic leaving it Badly Poisoned as well as laying waste into it with other attacks that worked off the status conditions, though the Vanillish held strong for the moment and even reflected much of the damage right back at the new Pokemon, meaning the battle between them was fairly close.

But Hyrem couldn't dwell on that side of the battle for long as Happy was about to jump into his own skirmish. The Flareon waited for Athena's Clefable to deal her Wake-Up Slap to the second Vanillish and move out of the way before he Took it Down even further, not minding the recoil damage he took from his own attack. What he did mind was the Ice Beam the Vanillish used to strike back, hitting him, knocking him back, and making it slow for him to get up. “Help him out Selene! Use Disarming Voice!” Hyrem could hear Athena order his Clefable, and it worked, giving Vanillish the distraction it deserved and giving Happy the time he needed to collect himself. Once that happened, he was able to Smash his paw into the Vanillish like a Rock before blasting it with a continuous stream of fire breath, his Flamethrower feeling so good as he saw it threaten to melt his target's face. “Selene! Finish it off with Meteor Mash!” came the command from the elite trainer, and the Clefable's Steel-type attack, knocking it out from there before Athena expressed her thanks and moved on to the next target.

"Nicely done, Happy!" Hyrem cheered. "Now let's see where else we can help out." Looking around, he could see the two Vanilluxe in combat with an adorable looking pink cow (not so adorable if you've faced one owned by a certain gym leader in Johto, from what I'm told), the Shiny Charmeleon owned by the other trainer on a Rapidash, and the Shiny Starmie seen earlier, its trainer atop his Snorlax and a very interesting Pokemon on his own shoulders: a baby green dragon with a shaggy fur coat from its head down to its neck, certainly a Pokemon worth looking for in the future. As for the combat itself, things seemed to be going according to plan for them, but one Vanlluxe was provoked enough by the Miltank's attacks to summon a storm of Hail on the battlefield, meaning everyone but Ice Pokemon, including the trainers, was about to suffer through even more damage from the frozen water pelting against them.

As for the rest of the Vanillite scoop (and yes, a group of Vanillite is called a "scoop"...not what I would've picked at all) they were being handled by area of effect Fire attacks from the Cyndaquil as well as Swift attacks from both the Cyndaquil and Shiny Starmie and a huge, brown ape brute forcing his way through scores of Vanillite, deciding every now and then to take a nap between powerful attacks because he just felt like it. Also among those defending against the Vanillite was Gary's Pawniard, Akame, or Katarina as Hyrem used to call her, and she was holding her own as she blocked many Ice attacks with her Stealth Rock before going in for some Revenge, but it also provoked some of them to go into various levels of Uproar, keeping everyone from falling Asleep.

At that point, however, the Pokemon in the sky hovered down close enough to reveal its form: it seemed to be a large head with black spikes on top with menacing blue eyes and teeth ready to crush anything that got in between them. Hyrem looked to Tsurara and then to the new Pokemon; their facial features actually seemed similar! "Are you two...related, by any chance?"
"It would seem so," said the Froslass, her casual grin expressing her interest in the battle, "at least by species." Hyrem would refer to his Pokedex once again for the new Pokemon:

Glalie, the Face Pokemon, and the evolved form of Snorunt. Originally, tales were told that the spirit of a stranded mountain hiker took host inside the boulder that crushed them to death, creating this Pokemon, but that myth was dispelled once people witnessed them evolving from Snorunt. It does, however, have a body of rock with an icy armor protecting it that resists melting, even under warm temperatures, which is why the rumors were deemed plausible before. Glalie have the power to instantly freeze the air around it, and it can do so to completely trap its prey in ice before taking its time eating the trapped prey bite by bite. Its preferred prey, however, is Pokemon made entirely of ice, like Vanillite.

"Well, no wonder you seem to like eating them so much, Tsurara. Any chance you could ask the Glalie up there to help you out?"
"Love to," said Tsurara matter-of-factly, "but seeing as how Glalie's the one ordering them around, I don't think that's possible...unless, of course, these minions are found not doing their job, in which case I could see it turn on its own to scare them into it. That may be how it got such an army in the first place, it threatened to eat them if they didn't join it." Tsurara made it a point to look at the Vanillites' expressions whenever the Glalie issued commands to see if they were reluctant to do its orders; she wouldn't really pity them so much as be given more of a reason to eat them and put them out of their misery.

“This isn’t good!! Everyone, we’re surrounded!” Athena's voice shouted out at that point, and what they were surrounded by was soon answered by the landscape around them suddenly coming to life. The initial battle was a trap! Soon enough, the igloo shaped creatures and small ice formations on legs fully made themselves known, and Hyrem recognized them to be Alolan Sandshrew and Bergmite respectively, the Bergmite being the most intriguing Pokemon for Hyrem yet as he remembered his time in the Dream World where he helped one break through a wall of ice. These Pokemon, however, were much more hostile and added their Powder Snow and Icy Wind attacks to the storm, making it even stronger than it was before and reducing visibility even further, but not before two Pokemon that seemed related to the Alolan Sandshrew stepped forward to reveal themselves as the leaders of this group of Ice Pokemon. "What are those things?" asked Hyrem, looking at his Pokedex once again for information:

Sandslash, the Mouse Pokemon, Alolan form, and the evolved form of Sandshrew. It used to live in the desert before being forced to live high in the mountains by volcanic eruptions long ago. It slashes against rocks and ice in order to keep its claws thick and sharp and ensure it can safely climb any iceberg or mountain where food might be located. The claws also help it plow through snow at high speeds, sending up sprays of snow in its path that people can spot easily and be able to move out of its way. Should anyone be caught in its metallic spikes covered in ice, they will suffer from frostbite in addition to the gaping stab wounds they receive.

"Alolan Sandslash, huh? Well, I think we've just found our next target, Happy!"
"Yeah!!" the Flareon barked, turning towards the hedgehogs. Having beaten the one Vanillish he was targeting, he was free to pivot towards these Sandslash and battle them instead. "And I've got a great idea on how to get in there!" Hyrem continued. "First, Flame Charge one of the Sandslash, and don't worry about the Cyndaquil's Heat Wave, just take the attack and take advantage of your ability! Then, add your own Heat Wave and use your power boost to wipe the floor with all those Ice Pokemon! Finally, if those Alolan Sandslash are still standing, use Lava Plume on them and give 'em the business!" As Happy nodded, Hyrem looked back to Keith, noticing his Shiny Mareanie had evolved into an even bigger looking starfish than before. It certainly looked like a powerful Pokemon, but he hoped Keith and everyone else still battling the Vanillite, Vanillish, and Vanilluxe would be on guard; those Mirror Coat attacks they were employing were no joke and could easily knock out any allied Pokemon if they weren't careful.

Mareanie, the Brutal Star Pokemon. It envelops its prey with ten spiky tentacles and injects it with the venomous barb at the top of its head before using its tentacles to finish it off. Its preferred prey is known as Corsola, the coral branches on its head being the favorite parts of it to eat. Craftsmen that work with Corsola branches consider this Pokemon as a pest, but any tentacles they cut off are simply regrown within a day.

Toxapex, the Brutal Star Pokemon, and the evolved form of Mareanie. Traveling the seafloor with twelve specially shaped legs, this Pokemon uses these legs to make a dome that protects it from many attacks and stay rooted against an ocean's current. It is also effective at trapping its prey, leaving no room to escape while consuming it. It can deploy its spikes around it or directly against any foes it comes across, attempting to poison the target. The venom is not proven to be lethal to humans, but any who come in contact with this venom will undergo extreme pain for 72 hours. There is no full recovery as Toxapex venom comes with various aftereffects, some of them potentially permanent.

Miltank, the Milk Cow Pokemon. Miltank is most well known for its potent, nutritious milk, used by humans in raising their children, tending to the sick, and healing trainer-owned Pokemon for a large amount of health. Those who are lactose intolerant can eat yogurt made with this milk without suffering any harmful effects. It yields a higher quality of milk if raised on good pastures, and it produces an even better yield if it has recently given birth or is around other baby Pokemon on a regular basis. This is why most Adoption Centers and rehabilitation facilities own a Miltank, as they make good mothers for orphaned Pokemon.

Deino, the Irate Pokemon. Deino is completely blind, so it charges, bites, and licks anything it comes into contact with just to gain information about its current environment. Its body is quite hardy, and it sports scrapes and bruises as a result of whatever it runs into, and if it bites into anything edible, it will attempt to eat it, especially if it tastes like meat.

Slaking, the Lazy Pokemon, and the final evolved form of Slakoth. Slaking is considered the laziest Pokemon of the world, even worse than Snorlax, only exerting any effort if it has to. It will eat every blade of grass within reach before it finds the need to move somewhere else. They tend to live solitary lives, only gathering around trees, lying in wait for fruit to fall out. When provoked, however, this Pokemon uses its reserved energy in order to deal devastating blows, usually overpowering its foe in one or two hits. On very rare occasion, it will grab a small Pokemon that comes too close and eat it.

The journey to the waterfall was hard on everyone involved, even Pokemon who would normally do well in this type of weather were having a hard time. On top of that, everyone could feel the ominous atmosphere grow as they got closer to their destination and once they all arrived it was clear why. Athena doesn’t even have the chance to get through her first sentence before she is interrupted by the unexpected ambush of Vanillite and its evolved forms. Knowing that there is no more time for talking, Athena and her Clefable immediately get to work fighting. Visibility immediately declines further than the storm itself had already caused once several Vanillite create Icy Wind to fill the area. Athena is barely visible and the trainers are left to think fast as there are Ice Beams blasting toward them from random directions plus an Avalanche threatening to crush them. The dark sphere whose cry had marked the beginning of these attacks sits atop the waterfall and watches.

The first Pokemon to start fighting is, Aster the Shiny Mareanie who had decided to burst out of her ball and insist on fighting. After deciding to single out one of the Vanillish, Aster charges in and is immediately blasted by one of the Ice Beams that have been shooting from seemingly random places due to it being so hard to see. This doesn’t seem to ruin any of her confidence though, and after tumbling in the snow she gets up and continues for the Vanillish she had her sights set on. The Pokemon’s attention is elsewhere so her Toxic hits without any issue. Now poisoned, the Vanillish sees Aster and lets out a cry in frustration. “Liiish!” The Pokemon immediately uses Acid Armor in order to defend itself and is then hit mercilessly by Aster’s Liquidation which does critical damage. The Vanillish is very angry now and rains down on the Shiny Mareanie with an Avalanche which quickly buries the Pokemon in the snow and hurts twice as much as it normally would. Aster isn’t done yet and leaps out of the snow mound and uses Venoshock, drenching the Vanillish in a toxic liquid that does a great deal of damage since it’s already poisoned. The Pokemon is clearly hurting at this point but isn’t ready to give up and uses a Mirror Coat which gives Aster double the pain the Vanillish just received. Both Pokemon are now hurt and panting while staring each other down.

Although Athena had practically disappeared in the storm, Happy the Flareon was able to catch up with her. The Clefable wasn’t holding back at all and was giving one of the Vanillish a serious Wake-Up Slap upon Happy’s arrival. As soon as the Clefable had paused for a second, Happy used that as his chance to Take Down the Vanillish himself before it had a chance to retaliate. The Vanillish now fights back and shoots Happy with a Beam of Ice which sends Happy rolling across the snow quite a bit and it takes him a while before he can regain his bearings because of the storm. “Help him out Selene! Use Disarming Voice!” Athena wants to make sure the Vanilluxe doesn’t have a chance to get Happy while he’s down and has her Clefable draw attention back to her. The Disarming Voice does exactly what Athena had hoped and not only hurts it, but it’s no longer looking at Happy. Back on his feet and not about to give up he uses his Rock Smash on the Vanillish and immediately afterwards blasts it in the face with Flamethrower. While the Vanillish is being overwhelmed with flames Athena sees this as an opportunity. “Selene! Finish it off with Meteor Mash!” The Clefable runs up as soon as the flames stop and pounds it with a Meteor Mash sending it flying. The Pokemon seems to be down for the count but there are other serious opponents out there so after a quick thank you Athena heads for her next fight.

Another battle was happening elsewhere, Millie the Miltank’s Thick Fat was thankfully helping her endure the endless storm around her so approaching her opponent while avoiding Ice Beams was challenging but not as difficult as it was for some of the other Pokemon. She also went right for one of the Vanilluxe and immediately Captivated it. With its guard slightly lowered, Millie charges in with a Zen Headbutt and smashes into the Vanilluxe causing it to flinch and immediately begins to spin into a Rollout smashing into it once more. The Vanilluxe is now angry and decides to take it out on not only Millie but everyone else around it too and unleashes a Hail storm into the already chaotic weather. Large balls of thick ice crash down and smash into Millie. Beside her is Balerion the Shiny Charmeleon who is after the other Vanilluxe who is further away. While being pelted with the Hail he uses his Ancient Power to hurl stones of ice at the Vanilluxe in order to grab its attention. It begins to charge toward Balerion but is momentarily interrupted when Stahl the Shiny Starmie shoots off a Confuse Ray at the unsuspecting Pokemon. Slightly dazed, the Vanilluxe doesn’t get to attack right away and Balerion uses this opportunity to charge in with a Flare Blitz, the flames cause the snow beneath his feet to melt but it is immediately replaced due to the storm. He crashes into the Vanilluxe and seems to hurt it quite a bit but also hurt himself. Surprisingly, the opponent is not burned but that doesn’t stop Balerion from clawing at the Vanilluxe with Metal Claw. The Vanilluxe uses Avalanche in retaliation, its confusion causes it to bury not on Balerion but itself as well. However, it’s barely phased by its own attack and comes out of the snow without a care.

While several of the Pokemon have aimed at specific targets, several other Pokemon have been holding off the incoming horde of Vanillite so that they don’t get in the way and before they overwhelm everyone. Stahl is shooting what almost feels like an endless wave of them with Swift and isn’t missing a single target. Whenever the occasional Vanillite slips by it is knocked back by a glowing light from Power Gem. Things seemed to be going very well for Stahl but sadly it doesn’t last. The Vanillite are tired of getting taken out with stars and work together to retaliate, all of them begin to hurl Icicle Spear’s at Stahl who is having trouble dodging the extremely large number of icicles being hurled at it and it begins to take its toll. Wildfire who used his Foresight to find a good place to fight, noticed Stahl having trouble and used his own Swift to start pushing back the extra Vanillite who were outnumbering Stahl’s Swift. This group seems to be under control again and Wildfire and Stahl work together for a bit with their Swifts. Somehow the waves feel endless, eventually Wildfire uses Heat Wave in hopes of putting a big dent in their numbers and it works at first but then it also causes them to fight back with Mirror Coat which hurts Wildfire quite a bit.

Defending from another direction is Kong the Slaking who currently seems to be enjoying himself but who knows how long that will last before he gets bored. He swings his Hammer Arm and knocks out an entire line of incoming Vanillite. And that about does it for his interest, he Traunts for a bit and decides to take a moment to lay in the snow and just take in the atmosphere. Meanwhile, he has been getting surrounded by a bunch of very upset looking Vanillite who didn’t enjoy being knocked around by him. Some of them decide to use Acid Armor in order to protect themselves while others ambush him with a bright Mirror Shot which surprises him. It actually surprises him enough to bring his interest back into the battle. He slowly gets up and looks at the group of Vanillite who flashed that move at him and slowly raises his fist into the air and then brings it down for a powerful Dynamic Punch. Of course, he completely misses the group that had attacked him since his accuracy was suffering but he does manage to hit the group that was covered in their Acid Armor and they are looking a bit confused. Satisfied with his only barely successful revenge, he is bored once again and lays back in the snow to Traunt for a bit more. Annoyed, the Vanillite begin to use Hail which pelt not only Kong but some of the surrounding allies as well. Akame the Pawniard wasn’t too far away from Kong and had just got done using Magnet Rise and was now dealing with the hail that Kong’s opponents had kicked up, fortunately being levitated helped her dodge some of the incoming balls of ice. After being pelted a few times and kicking some rocks out of the snow, it became clear that her Stealth Rocks were needed to not only shield her from incoming Pokemon, but from the large balls of ice being hurled at her as well. The incoming Vanillite stop their charge and begin to hurl Icicle Spears at Akane, breaking her rocks away and immediately overwhelming her with their attack. She isn’t about to back down though and decides to get some Revenge and smashes into a number of the Vanillite with twice as much damage as they were dishing out. They didn’t like being surprised like that and a few of them now appear to be starting an Uproar out of frustration.

Everyone’s battle is tough, there is not a single Pokemon that isn’t giving it their all. The Glalie continues to watch from atop the waterfall, seemingly not making a move but its presence can’t help but be felt by all. “This isn’t good!! Everyone, we’re surrounded!” Athena, who had been on her way over to help fight one of the Vanilluxe has just made a discovery. Everyone had been so distracted with their own fights that they hadn’t noticed that not all of the ice surrounding them was still. There were what appeared to be balls of ice rolling through the snow beside small moving glaciers from every direction and they were quickly closing in on the trainers and their Pokemon. After closing the distance, those balls of ice almost simultaneously begin to open up revealing many Alolan Sandshrew who waste no time making the weather even worse by blasting Powder Snow in what seems to be every direction. The many Bergmite beside them have no problem joining in and use their Icy Wind to continue what the Vanillite had started earlier. “Sandslash!!!” Suddenly, the cries of two Alolan Sandslash echo through the air, drawing attention to where they stand just behind the Bergmite and Alolan Sandshrew. There is a pause of silence where the only thing everyone hears is the whistle of the strong winds from the storm. This moment of peace doesn’t last long though, the Glalie at the top of the waterfall lets out another one of its cries and the new opponents along with the old, charge into battle.[/color][/i]

This whole thing, to be frank, was an absolute clusterfuck. Being able to see anything was a difficulty, and Alice was glad that she had thought to bring the prescription visor, although even this wasn't as effective with the pelting of snow. There were so many trainers and Pokemon around her, more than Alice had ever considered socialising with or had seen in this world - some that she recognised or had heard of, at least - and it added pressure of not wanting to let her allies down.

Of course, Alice wasn't oblivious to the fact that Millie wasn't helping the mess. Her speed was inhibited by the terrain, but she was still building some serious momentum, which was exactly what Alice wanted. Rollout was super effective, and in the young woman's mind was one of Miltank's signature moves. She had done well so far, time to keep this up, if her partner could hear her.

"Millie!" Alice tried over the storm, "Keep using rollout! And combine it with thunderbolt to smash into the Vanilluxe with some extra pain! Keep it up, girl!" She hoped that the spray of snow and the violent electricity might help deflect or curb any incoming damage, too. Not to mention it would help with Alice's visibility of her Pokemon. The beauty of the shinies around her hadn't gone unnoticed, either. The Starmie in particular was gorgeous to behold. Of course she'd have a 'normal' Pokemon on the field when the others were using flashier ones, but that was hardly of concern right now.

The concern was that they were indeed fenced in, and there were even more Pokemon joining the chaos now, too. Alice couldn't afford to worry about it, though, not until these Vanilluxe were taken out. Focus, focus! They could change targets later, but right now, one battle at a time, lest they get overwhelmed.

The journey to the waterfall was hard on everyone involved, even Pokemon who would normally do well in this type of weather were having a hard time. On top of that, everyone could feel the ominous atmosphere grow as they got closer to their destination and once they all arrived it was clear why. Athena doesn’t even have the chance to get through her first sentence before she is interrupted by the unexpected ambush of Vanillite and its evolved forms. Knowing that there is no more time for talking, Athena and her Clefable immediately get to work fighting. Visibility immediately declines further than the storm itself had already caused once several Vanillite create Icy Wind to fill the area. Athena is barely visible and the trainers are left to think fast as there are Ice Beams blasting toward them from random directions plus an Avalanche threatening to crush them. The dark sphere whose cry had marked the beginning of these attacks sits atop the waterfall and watches.

The first Pokemon to start fighting is, Aster the Shiny Mareanie who had decided to burst out of her ball and insist on fighting. After deciding to single out one of the Vanillish, Aster charges in and is immediately blasted by one of the Ice Beams that have been shooting from seemingly random places due to it being so hard to see. This doesn’t seem to ruin any of her confidence though, and after tumbling in the snow she gets up and continues for the Vanillish she had her sights set on. The Pokemon’s attention is elsewhere so her Toxic hits without any issue. Now poisoned, the Vanillish sees Aster and lets out a cry in frustration. “Liiish!” The Pokemon immediately uses Acid Armor in order to defend itself and is then hit mercilessly by Aster’s Liquidation which does critical damage. The Vanillish is very angry now and rains down on the Shiny Mareanie with an Avalanche which quickly buries the Pokemon in the snow and hurts twice as much as it normally would. Aster isn’t done yet and leaps out of the snow mound and uses Venoshock, drenching the Vanillish in a toxic liquid that does a great deal of damage since it’s already poisoned. The Pokemon is clearly hurting at this point but isn’t ready to give up and uses a Mirror Coat which gives Aster double the pain the Vanillish just received. Both Pokemon are now hurt and panting while staring each other down.

Although Athena had practically disappeared in the storm, Happy the Flareon was able to catch up with her. The Clefable wasn’t holding back at all and was giving one of the Vanillish a serious Wake-Up Slap upon Happy’s arrival. As soon as the Clefable had paused for a second, Happy used that as his chance to Take Down the Vanillish himself before it had a chance to retaliate. The Vanillish now fights back and shoots Happy with a Beam of Ice which sends Happy rolling across the snow quite a bit and it takes him a while before he can regain his bearings because of the storm. “Help him out Selene! Use Disarming Voice!” Athena wants to make sure the Vanilluxe doesn’t have a chance to get Happy while he’s down and has her Clefable draw attention back to her. The Disarming Voice does exactly what Athena had hoped and not only hurts it, but it’s no longer looking at Happy. Back on his feet and not about to give up he uses his Rock Smash on the Vanillish and immediately afterwards blasts it in the face with Flamethrower. While the Vanillish is being overwhelmed with flames Athena sees this as an opportunity. “Selene! Finish it off with Meteor Mash!” The Clefable runs up as soon as the flames stop and pounds it with a Meteor Mash sending it flying. The Pokemon seems to be down for the count but there are other serious opponents out there so after a quick thank you Athena heads for her next fight.

Another battle was happening elsewhere, Millie the Miltank’s Thick Fat was thankfully helping her endure the endless storm around her so approaching her opponent while avoiding Ice Beams was challenging but not as difficult as it was for some of the other Pokemon. She also went right for one of the Vanilluxe and immediately Captivated it. With its guard slightly lowered, Millie charges in with a Zen Headbutt and smashes into the Vanilluxe causing it to flinch and immediately begins to spin into a Rollout smashing into it once more. The Vanilluxe is now angry and decides to take it out on not only Millie but everyone else around it too and unleashes a Hail storm into the already chaotic weather. Large balls of thick ice crash down and smash into Millie. Beside her is Balerion the Shiny Charmeleon who is after the other Vanilluxe who is further away. While being pelted with the Hail he uses his Ancient Power to hurl stones of ice at the Vanilluxe in order to grab its attention. It begins to charge toward Balerion but is momentarily interrupted when Stahl the Shiny Starmie shoots off a Confuse Ray at the unsuspecting Pokemon. Slightly dazed, the Vanilluxe doesn’t get to attack right away and Balerion uses this opportunity to charge in with a Flare Blitz, the flames cause the snow beneath his feet to melt but it is immediately replaced due to the storm. He crashes into the Vanilluxe and seems to hurt it quite a bit but also hurt himself. Surprisingly, the opponent is not burned but that doesn’t stop Balerion from clawing at the Vanilluxe with Metal Claw. The Vanilluxe uses Avalanche in retaliation, its confusion causes it to bury not on Balerion but itself as well. However, it’s barely phased by its own attack and comes out of the snow without a care.

While several of the Pokemon have aimed at specific targets, several other Pokemon have been holding off the incoming horde of Vanillite so that they don’t get in the way and before they overwhelm everyone. Stahl is shooting what almost feels like an endless wave of them with Swift and isn’t missing a single target. Whenever the occasional Vanillite slips by it is knocked back by a glowing light from Power Gem. Things seemed to be going very well for Stahl but sadly it doesn’t last. The Vanillite are tired of getting taken out with stars and work together to retaliate, all of them begin to hurl Icicle Spear’s at Stahl who is having trouble dodging the extremely large number of icicles being hurled at it and it begins to take its toll. Wildfire who used his Foresight to find a good place to fight, noticed Stahl having trouble and used his own Swift to start pushing back the extra Vanillite who were outnumbering Stahl’s Swift. This group seems to be under control again and Wildfire and Stahl work together for a bit with their Swifts. Somehow the waves feel endless, eventually Wildfire uses Heat Wave in hopes of putting a big dent in their numbers and it works at first but then it also causes them to fight back with Mirror Coat which hurts Wildfire quite a bit.

Defending from another direction is Kong the Slaking who currently seems to be enjoying himself but who knows how long that will last before he gets bored. He swings his Hammer Arm and knocks out an entire line of incoming Vanillite. And that about does it for his interest, he Traunts for a bit and decides to take a moment to lay in the snow and just take in the atmosphere. Meanwhile, he has been getting surrounded by a bunch of very upset looking Vanillite who didn’t enjoy being knocked around by him. Some of them decide to use Acid Armor in order to protect themselves while others ambush him with a bright Mirror Shot which surprises him. It actually surprises him enough to bring his interest back into the battle. He slowly gets up and looks at the group of Vanillite who flashed that move at him and slowly raises his fist into the air and then brings it down for a powerful Dynamic Punch. Of course, he completely misses the group that had attacked him since his accuracy was suffering but he does manage to hit the group that was covered in their Acid Armor and they are looking a bit confused. Satisfied with his only barely successful revenge, he is bored once again and lays back in the snow to Traunt for a bit more. Annoyed, the Vanillite begin to use Hail which pelt not only Kong but some of the surrounding allies as well. Akame the Pawniard wasn’t too far away from Kong and had just got done using Magnet Rise and was now dealing with the hail that Kong’s opponents had kicked up, fortunately being levitated helped her dodge some of the incoming balls of ice. After being pelted a few times and kicking some rocks out of the snow, it became clear that her Stealth Rocks were needed to not only shield her from incoming Pokemon, but from the large balls of ice being hurled at her as well. The incoming Vanillite stop their charge and begin to hurl Icicle Spears at Akane, breaking her rocks away and immediately overwhelming her with their attack. She isn’t about to back down though and decides to get some Revenge and smashes into a number of the Vanillite with twice as much damage as they were dishing out. They didn’t like being surprised like that and a few of them now appear to be starting an Uproar out of frustration.

Everyone’s battle is tough, there is not a single Pokemon that isn’t giving it their all. The Glalie continues to watch from atop the waterfall, seemingly not making a move but its presence can’t help but be felt by all. “This isn’t good!! Everyone, we’re surrounded!” Athena, who had been on her way over to help fight one of the Vanilluxe has just made a discovery. Everyone had been so distracted with their own fights that they hadn’t noticed that not all of the ice surrounding them was still. There were what appeared to be balls of ice rolling through the snow beside small moving glaciers from every direction and they were quickly closing in on the trainers and their Pokemon. After closing the distance, those balls of ice almost simultaneously begin to open up revealing many Alolan Sandshrew who waste no time making the weather even worse by blasting Powder Snow in what seems to be every direction. The many Bergmite beside them have no problem joining in and use their Icy Wind to continue what the Vanillite had started earlier. “Sandslash!!!” Suddenly, the cries of two Alolan Sandslash echo through the air, drawing attention to where they stand just behind the Bergmite and Alolan Sandshrew. There is a pause of silence where the only thing everyone hears is the whistle of the strong winds from the storm. This moment of peace doesn’t last long though, the Glalie at the top of the waterfall lets out another one of its cries and the new opponents along with the old, charge into battle.

In order to keep things organized for us to update, please use only 1 Pokemon in combat at a time and order up to no more than 3 attacks at a time. Reminder: this campaign will be updated every weekend around Saturday/Sunday, so if you are unable to reply in time do not worry. There is no penalty for missing an update; simply reply to the latest update to keep up with the plot. Please reply in DeepSkyBlue

Gary watched in amazement as the great number of Pokemon appeared all around him to combat the incoming enemies. Some Pokemon he was quite familiar with, and others were so far out there that he nearly forgot about the mission at hand as he admired the Shiny Mareanie and Shiny Starmie; a pair of brightly colored starfish that he would kill to examine more closely. However, he was snapped out of his trance as a nearby Slaking threw a forceful punch into a Vanillite while some Hail trickled down from above. Not wanting to get hit in the head, Gary pulled the hood of his sweatshirt over his head.

Akame was having her hands full trying to dodge the falling ice pellets as well as the enemy Vanillite’s incoming Icicle Spears, seemingly skating through the air as her Magnet Rise allowed her to hover slightly off the ground. Her Stealth Rocks orbited her like tiny shields, redirecting some of the ice, but once her defenses were down, she was able to enact her Revenge on the unsuspecting ice cream cones. As she finished her attacks, they then began to cry out in an Uproar, the noise irritating Akame slightly.

This battle was far from over however, as new opponents emerged from the giant pillar of ice. There were a number of Sandshrew, but these were an unusual Alolan-region variant that were coated with ice and were as hard as steel. Following them were several Bergmite, the spiky stalagmite-iceberg Pokemon, and two Alolan-Sandslashes, the evolved version of these Sandshrew. Atop the waterfall, the Glalie cried out, issuing its new troops into battle.

After collecting the data he needed in his Pokedex, Gary analyzed the opponents on the battlefield. He then looked at Akame, who was still hovering due to the effects of Magnet Rise. “Alright Akame, let’s do this! Pick out an injured Vanillish and ram it off guard with an Aerial Ace! Before it can react, hold it in place with a Thunder Wave and then ram it again with an Iron Head this time!” As he spoke, the Pawniard quietly listened and steeled herself for battle, looking for new next opponent to take on.

The journey to the waterfall was hard on everyone involved, even Pokemon who would normally do well in this type of weather were having a hard time. On top of that, everyone could feel the ominous atmosphere grow as they got closer to their destination and once they all arrived it was clear why. Athena doesn’t even have the chance to get through her first sentence before she is interrupted by the unexpected ambush of Vanillite and its evolved forms. Knowing that there is no more time for talking, Athena and her Clefable immediately get to work fighting. Visibility immediately declines further than the storm itself had already caused once several Vanillite create Icy Wind to fill the area. Athena is barely visible and the trainers are left to think fast as there are Ice Beams blasting toward them from random directions plus an Avalanche threatening to crush them. The dark sphere whose cry had marked the beginning of these attacks sits atop the waterfall and watches.

The first Pokemon to start fighting is, Aster the Shiny Mareanie who had decided to burst out of her ball and insist on fighting. After deciding to single out one of the Vanillish, Aster charges in and is immediately blasted by one of the Ice Beams that have been shooting from seemingly random places due to it being so hard to see. This doesn’t seem to ruin any of her confidence though, and after tumbling in the snow she gets up and continues for the Vanillish she had her sights set on. The Pokemon’s attention is elsewhere so her Toxic hits without any issue. Now poisoned, the Vanillish sees Aster and lets out a cry in frustration. “Liiish!” The Pokemon immediately uses Acid Armor in order to defend itself and is then hit mercilessly by Aster’s Liquidation which does critical damage. The Vanillish is very angry now and rains down on the Shiny Mareanie with an Avalanche which quickly buries the Pokemon in the snow and hurts twice as much as it normally would. Aster isn’t done yet and leaps out of the snow mound and uses Venoshock, drenching the Vanillish in a toxic liquid that does a great deal of damage since it’s already poisoned. The Pokemon is clearly hurting at this point but isn’t ready to give up and uses a Mirror Coat which gives Aster double the pain the Vanillish just received. Both Pokemon are now hurt and panting while staring each other down.

Although Athena had practically disappeared in the storm, Happy the Flareon was able to catch up with her. The Clefable wasn’t holding back at all and was giving one of the Vanillish a serious Wake-Up Slap upon Happy’s arrival. As soon as the Clefable had paused for a second, Happy used that as his chance to Take Down the Vanillish himself before it had a chance to retaliate. The Vanillish now fights back and shoots Happy with a Beam of Ice which sends Happy rolling across the snow quite a bit and it takes him a while before he can regain his bearings because of the storm. “Help him out Selene! Use Disarming Voice!” Athena wants to make sure the Vanilluxe doesn’t have a chance to get Happy while he’s down and has her Clefable draw attention back to her. The Disarming Voice does exactly what Athena had hoped and not only hurts it, but it’s no longer looking at Happy. Back on his feet and not about to give up he uses his Rock Smash on the Vanillish and immediately afterwards blasts it in the face with Flamethrower. While the Vanillish is being overwhelmed with flames Athena sees this as an opportunity. “Selene! Finish it off with Meteor Mash!” The Clefable runs up as soon as the flames stop and pounds it with a Meteor Mash sending it flying. The Pokemon seems to be down for the count but there are other serious opponents out there so after a quick thank you Athena heads for her next fight.

Another battle was happening elsewhere, Millie the Miltank’s Thick Fat was thankfully helping her endure the endless storm around her so approaching her opponent while avoiding Ice Beams was challenging but not as difficult as it was for some of the other Pokemon. She also went right for one of the Vanilluxe and immediately Captivated it. With its guard slightly lowered, Millie charges in with a Zen Headbutt and smashes into the Vanilluxe causing it to flinch and immediately begins to spin into a Rollout smashing into it once more. The Vanilluxe is now angry and decides to take it out on not only Millie but everyone else around it too and unleashes a Hail storm into the already chaotic weather. Large balls of thick ice crash down and smash into Millie. Beside her is Balerion the Shiny Charmeleon who is after the other Vanilluxe who is further away. While being pelted with the Hail he uses his Ancient Power to hurl stones of ice at the Vanilluxe in order to grab its attention. It begins to charge toward Balerion but is momentarily interrupted when Stahl the Shiny Starmie shoots off a Confuse Ray at the unsuspecting Pokemon. Slightly dazed, the Vanilluxe doesn’t get to attack right away and Balerion uses this opportunity to charge in with a Flare Blitz, the flames cause the snow beneath his feet to melt but it is immediately replaced due to the storm. He crashes into the Vanilluxe and seems to hurt it quite a bit but also hurt himself. Surprisingly, the opponent is not burned but that doesn’t stop Balerion from clawing at the Vanilluxe with Metal Claw. The Vanilluxe uses Avalanche in retaliation, its confusion causes it to bury not on Balerion but itself as well. However, it’s barely phased by its own attack and comes out of the snow without a care.

While several of the Pokemon have aimed at specific targets, several other Pokemon have been holding off the incoming horde of Vanillite so that they don’t get in the way and before they overwhelm everyone. Stahl is shooting what almost feels like an endless wave of them with Swift and isn’t missing a single target. Whenever the occasional Vanillite slips by it is knocked back by a glowing light from Power Gem. Things seemed to be going very well for Stahl but sadly it doesn’t last. The Vanillite are tired of getting taken out with stars and work together to retaliate, all of them begin to hurl Icicle Spear’s at Stahl who is having trouble dodging the extremely large number of icicles being hurled at it and it begins to take its toll. Wildfire who used his Foresight to find a good place to fight, noticed Stahl having trouble and used his own Swift to start pushing back the extra Vanillite who were outnumbering Stahl’s Swift. This group seems to be under control again and Wildfire and Stahl work together for a bit with their Swifts. Somehow the waves feel endless, eventually Wildfire uses Heat Wave in hopes of putting a big dent in their numbers and it works at first but then it also causes them to fight back with Mirror Coat which hurts Wildfire quite a bit.

Defending from another direction is Kong the Slaking who currently seems to be enjoying himself but who knows how long that will last before he gets bored. He swings his Hammer Arm and knocks out an entire line of incoming Vanillite. And that about does it for his interest, he Traunts for a bit and decides to take a moment to lay in the snow and just take in the atmosphere. Meanwhile, he has been getting surrounded by a bunch of very upset looking Vanillite who didn’t enjoy being knocked around by him. Some of them decide to use Acid Armor in order to protect themselves while others ambush him with a bright Mirror Shot which surprises him. It actually surprises him enough to bring his interest back into the battle. He slowly gets up and looks at the group of Vanillite who flashed that move at him and slowly raises his fist into the air and then brings it down for a powerful Dynamic Punch. Of course, he completely misses the group that had attacked him since his accuracy was suffering but he does manage to hit the group that was covered in their Acid Armor and they are looking a bit confused. Satisfied with his only barely successful revenge, he is bored once again and lays back in the snow to Traunt for a bit more. Annoyed, the Vanillite begin to use Hail which pelt not only Kong but some of the surrounding allies as well. Akame the Pawniard wasn’t too far away from Kong and had just got done using Magnet Rise and was now dealing with the hail that Kong’s opponents had kicked up, fortunately being levitated helped her dodge some of the incoming balls of ice. After being pelted a few times and kicking some rocks out of the snow, it became clear that her Stealth Rocks were needed to not only shield her from incoming Pokemon, but from the large balls of ice being hurled at her as well. The incoming Vanillite stop their charge and begin to hurl Icicle Spears at Akane, breaking her rocks away and immediately overwhelming her with their attack. She isn’t about to back down though and decides to get some Revenge and smashes into a number of the Vanillite with twice as much damage as they were dishing out. They didn’t like being surprised like that and a few of them now appear to be starting an Uproar out of frustration.

Everyone’s battle is tough, there is not a single Pokemon that isn’t giving it their all. The Glalie continues to watch from atop the waterfall, seemingly not making a move but its presence can’t help but be felt by all. “This isn’t good!! Everyone, we’re surrounded!” Athena, who had been on her way over to help fight one of the Vanilluxe has just made a discovery. Everyone had been so distracted with their own fights that they hadn’t noticed that not all of the ice surrounding them was still. There were what appeared to be balls of ice rolling through the snow beside small moving glaciers from every direction and they were quickly closing in on the trainers and their Pokemon. After closing the distance, those balls of ice almost simultaneously begin to open up revealing many Alolan Sandshrew who waste no time making the weather even worse by blasting Powder Snow in what seems to be every direction. The many Bergmite beside them have no problem joining in and use their Icy Wind to continue what the Vanillite had started earlier. “Sandslash!!!” Suddenly, the cries of two Alolan Sandslash echo through the air, drawing attention to where they stand just behind the Bergmite and Alolan Sandshrew. There is a pause of silence where the only thing everyone hears is the whistle of the strong winds from the storm. This moment of peace doesn’t last long though, the Glalie at the top of the waterfall lets out another one of its cries and the new opponents along with the old, charge into battle.

In order to keep things organized for us to update, please use only 1 Pokemon in combat at a time and order up to no more than 3 attacks at a time. Reminder: this campaign will be updated every weekend around Saturday/Sunday, so if you are unable to reply in time do not worry. There is no penalty for missing an update; simply reply to the latest update to keep up with the plot. Please reply in DeepSkyBlue

Lucas watched as his Pokémon eagerly charged into battle and took out a slew of incoming Vanillite with Hammer Arm. He then watched in dismay, and little surprise, as Kong got bored with his easy picking and decided to laze around in the snow for a while, doing not so much as even making a snow angel. Fortunately for him, the remaining Vanillite snapped him out of it by issue of a direct Mirror Shot. Kong awoke from his short rest with a fury, lobbing a haphazard throw in the form of a Dynamic Punch. The attack missed its intended target, instead striking the group of Vanillite that had set up an Acid Armour, and confusing them.

Lucas paid nearly no mind to his surroundings, focussing entirely on his Slaking who decided once again to laze around in the snow. However, out of the corner of his eye he saw the accumulating bodies of snow and ice pop out of the ground, not realising that all this time there were more Pokémon in the vicinity. He pulled out his Pokédex for more information.

Quote:

(Alolan) Sandshrew, the Mouse Pokémon. The skin on its back is as hard as steel. Its steel shell is very hard—so much so, it can't roll its body up into a ball. Predators go after its soft belly, so it clings to the ground desperately. An ancient tradition of Alolan festivals, still carried on to this day, is a competition to slide Sandshrew across ice as far as one can.

Quote:

(Alolan) Sandslash, the Mouse Pokémon. Fleeing a volcanic eruption, it settled on a snowy mountain. It developed thick, sharp claws to plow through the snow. With its sharp claws fully extended, it can climb right up an iceberg without slipping. This Pokémon's steel spikes are sheathed in ice. Stabs from these spikes cause deep wounds and severe frostbite as well. It runs across snow-covered plains at high speeds. As it races through the snowfields, it sends up a spray of snow.

Quote:

Bergmite, the Ice Chunk Pokémon. They live in herds above the snow line on mountains. It blocks opponents' attacks with the ice that shields its body. It uses cold air to repair any cracks with new ice. Using air of -100 degrees Celsius, they freeze opponents solid.

The strange orb at the top of the waterfall roared once more to send the new wave of assailants into battle. At this point it was unmistakable that it was a Pokémon, and it was commanding the others.

Quote:

Glalie, the Face Pokémon. Glalie has a body made of rock, which it hardens with an armor of ice. This Pokémon has the ability to freeze moisture in the atmosphere into any shape it desires. It can instantly freeze its prey solid. After immobilizing its prey in ice, this Pokémon enjoys eating it in leisurely fashion.

The other trainers had already sprang into action. Lucas missed witnessing the mareanie’s evolution, causing him to be baffled when he saw a new shiny Pok’emon on the battlefield who was taking a defensive stance against one of the Vanillish. Lucas scanned the area once more to quickly take in everyone’s position for himself. The two new Ice captains, in the form of Alolan Sandslash, were immediately confronted by a second Charmeleon and Flareon the latter of which had managed to successfully knock out a Vanillish alongside Athena’s Clefable. Lucas accompanying ally, Isaac, finally snapped back into battle and sent his mighty Incineroar after the new horde of Alolan Sandshrew. Three Fire types should be more than enough to face Fire/Steel Pokémon. A fourth Fire-type, a Cyndaquil, switched targets from Vanillite to Sandshrew. The Charmeleon and Miltank were still continuing their focus on the two Vanilluxe.

By Lucas’ count so far, this left Kong as the only one left to combat the remaining Vanillite. Not that he’d have much of a choice though, as Kong’s dilly-dallying ended up with him getting surrounded by a few with Mirror Shot, Uproar and Acid Armour. (???)Somewhere though, there was a third Vanillish the group had neglected from oversight,(???) but Kong wouldn’t be able to get near it until the others were sorted.

“Kong, use Encore!” The Vanillite with Acid Armour were confused with thanks to the misdirected Dynamic Punch. That group could be incapacitated further and ignored while Kong focussed on the others. As for the Pokémon’s increasingly tough defences from the Acid Armour; Lucas would find a way to Punish them for it or Chip Away at their health later. And as for the attacking group of Vanillite:

Kong! Focus on the attackers for now. Use a mix of Fire Punch and Reversal, hoping to also detract some of them away from the Pawniard who was switching targets. Lucas had heard someone bark an order for Sunny Day. Perhaps he would get lucky and then Kong would receive a boost to his Fire Punch. Reversal, a Fighting move, would only become more powerful the more enraged Kong was from damage taken.

As the angry horde of Sneasels hissed and snarled, the group of trainers called forth their Pokemon, ready to defend the farm. While the trainers issued orders to their Pokemon, Weavile’s eyes narrowed and it munched on a berry, waiting to see who would face it head-on first. The two Cloud Garden trial captains had joined the fray as well, Jet’s Skarmory and Samuel’s Sudowoodo ready for battle. As they felt their advantage in numbers becoming weaker by the minute with all of these new opponents, the Sneasels grew restless and launched their next assault.

Blurs of black and magenta flew throughout the orchard as the Sneasel pounced into action. Bill’s Squirtle, Silver was first to retaliate, spraying a stream of Bubbles to knock a few of the Sneasels off their feet. Silver followed the strike up with a Water Gun to knock one of the Sneasels in the middle back into a tree and finished off the combo by ramming into it with a Tackle of his hard shell. The Sneasel slumped over, defeated, which did not sit well with its two allies that had been previously targeted by the Bubble. They converged on Silver, one of them striking him in the back with a Feint Attack while the other Scratched him on the shell for light damage.

Choux the Snubbull was the first to come to Silver’s defense, hey eyes glowing red and punched and kicked at a Sneasel with a flurry of Close Combat maneuvers, instantly knocking it out. As she panted to catch her breath, her guard lowered, she stared down the third Sneasel with a Scary Face, hoping to scare it off, but the weasel would not be deterred so easily. It quickly slipped behind the Snubbull and hit her with a Faint Attack causing her to become so surprised that her Rattled disposition caused her adrenaline to spike.

While all of the enemies darted about rapidly, only one calmly remained in place while eating its berry; Weavile. Nuhuko the Lunatone locked in on the big boss and fired forth a Power Gem, a reddish beam of light striking Weavile in the shoulder, causing it to drop its berry. If the Lunatone wanted its attention, it surely got it now. Leering angrily, the Weavile suddenly darted forward as fast as it could. However, once it got within striking distance of Nuhuko, the Lunatone released a blast of energy that distorted the very fabric of physics in the surrounding area. A cube-shaped dimension known as a Trick Room filled the clearing and appeared to warp the movement of the Pokemon caught in it. However, when Nuhuko turned its attention back to the Weavile, the boss was missing. Nuhuko began looking around for it, but by the time it was finally located, it was too late. Weavile had slipped into the Lunatone’s blind spot and struck it from behind with a Feint Attack for solid damage.

Back in the conflict with Sneasel, Choux seemed to be running circles around her foe as her Rattled adrenaline gave her an advantage over the Sneasel she had shown her Scary Face to. However, as the properties of the Trick Room warped the area, Choux suddenly found herself much slower than the Sneasel, who Scratched her vengefully. All she could muster after that was to clamp down her jaw on the Sneasel’s arm with a light Bite.

Caeda the Skarmory swooped into action next, crashing into the ground with her talons out first in order to kick up a Rock Slide that battered several Sneasel for considerable damage. She then kicked back off the ground and flew into the heart of the Trick Room, ramming the Weavile with her tough Iron Head. Weavile groaned as the Skarmory continued her fly-by, gliding out of range. Hotstuff the Charmander began concentrating deeply, ready to Focus all of his energy into a massive Punch on the Weavile, but was immediately knocked onto his back as a random Sneasel promptly Faked him Out. He blew forth a Flamethrower in frustration, catching the Sneasel more than the Weavile, but dealing a good amount of damage nonetheless. As the Sneasel fell in defeat, Hotstuff followed up with a second Flamethrower, catching the Weavile head-on this time. Weavile hissed as some of the snow melted and rammed into Hotstuff with a strong Quick Attack.

With Sneasel swarming the Pokemon from all directions, a contingent of Pokemon stood firmly to take them all on. Lune the Eevee made her best attempt to kick up a Sand Attack, slapping a paw full of snow in a Sneasel’s face to little effect. It did buy her time however to pepper it with a flurry of Swift stars. Louise the Mawile emitted a Sweet Scent from her Venus fly trap-like horn which lured in a number of Sneasel. She clocked one of them with a Power-Up Punch, her fist glowing orange and further bolstering her attack. She then grappled the Sneasel tightly and after planting her horn firmly in the ground, she flipped both herself and the Sneasel high into the air before slamming her opponent down on the ground with a hard Seismic Toss, knocking the Sneasel out in the process.

Meanwhile, Rotom as well as Belial the Houndoom faced off against their own mobs of Sneasels. Rotom began Charging up as much electricity as it could before Discharging it on a group of unsuspecting Sneasels for considerable damage. As it prepared to strike again, one of the Sneasels snuck up from behind and hit it with a Feint Attack for decent damage before becoming fried by a second Discharge that knocked it out and paralyzed two other weakened Sneasels. Belial the Houndoom picked out a Sneasel from the group and singed it with an Ember. As the Sneasel retaliated with a Quick Attack, the Houndoom swatted it down with a strike from his pointed Iron Tail, knocking it out.

As the remaining Pokemon converge on the Weavile, a number of Sneasels came to its defense. Looking to take out the Trick Room to regain their advantage, the Sneasels circled around Nuhuko menacingly. A pair of Sneasel lunged forward, hitting the wall of the dimension with an array of Fury Swipes which caused the walls to momentarily shake and glitch out, but as Lune offered the Lunatone a Helping Hand, Nuhuko was able to resupply the field with more energy.

It was now Leo the Spheal’s time to shine as the proud little sea lion pup barked his fiercest Growl in Weavile’s direction, getting its attention. As he then Curled into a Defensive ball, Rika the Espeon sped through the crowd of Sneasels, hitting a few of them with a Quick Attack before ramming into Weavile with a Tackle. Weavile was knocked backwards, losing its balance just in time for Caeda the Skarmory to swoop back in and ram it with another Iron Head. Leo then rolled forward, and with encouragement from Rika’s Helping Hand, collided with the Weavile for a powerful Rollout.

Weavile had taken quite a few beatings at this point and Screeched loudly in a combination of anger, frustration, and pain, hurting everyone’s ears in the process. Weavile began glowing a light blue before sending an Avalanche of snow and ice in all directions. Caeda, Rika, Nuhuko, Hotstuff, Lune, and Leo were all caught in the powerful attack, although Hotstuff’s natural resistances and Leo’s Thick Fat lessened the blow for them individually.

“Great job, guys!” Jet called out as he took care of a Sneasel with his Skarmory. The Weavile was breathing pretty heavily but appeared to still have some fight left in it. A few of the trainers’ Pokemon had taken some decent hits as well, but for the most part everyone was still raring to go. As the trainers began to assess the situation, an old and frantic voice crackled over Jet’s walkie-talkie. “Jet! We need you over here! Swinub… they’re taking over the garden!”

Jet bit his lip and summoned one of the Mudsdale-drawn carriages. “Don’t worry, we can handle things here,” Samuel spoke with a reassuring nod. Jet nodded back and addressed the group, “Looks like we’re needed over at the Rose Garden as well. You’re welcome to remain here and help out against the Sneasels, but if you wish to tag along, come with me! The other carriage will remain here if any of you need a ride later.” Jet boarded the sleigh with the trainers who volunteered to follow him and they were on their way.

~~~~~~~

It was a short ride back the way they came as they headed in the direction of town. However, before they arrived there, they turned west and made their way toward the Rose Garden. What was once a beautiful garden filled with vibrant flowers was now a winter wonderland, filled with wilted grass type Pokemon. There was a sea of brown across the garden as well, as a horde of Swinub had taken over and were grazing on various plants as well as rooting up mud and dirt everywhere.

The group fought their way through the icy little boars before making it to the center of the garden where they found Primrose, the young heiress of the garden huddled with her Musharna for warmth while the old gardener Poppy attempted to hold off Swinub with a rake. “Thank goodness!” Poppy breathed a sigh of relief, “Everyone was stuck at town, but my Gogoat and I fought our way here to protect young Mistress Nightingale. Gogoat didn’t last too long, unfortunately, and young mistress has gotten a bit of a chill here…” Primrose had Poppy’s coat draped over her shoulders and was barely conscious as the cold had made her too weak to stand. The storm had come too suddenly, and she was unable to escape the garden in time before it hit. “Alright guys, let’s take care of these Swinub so we can get Primrose safely back to town!” Jet called out, calling forth his Skarmory once again.

You are now presented with a choice. You may either continue fighting Sneasel and Weavile at the Oran Orchard, or you may take on Swinub at the Rose Garden. If you choose the latter, simply include the travel and your new orders in your response. There will be ample opportunities to move between the areas each week, so do not worry about being left behind!

“Good job guys!” cheered Melody, her voice taking on the pitch of a cheerleader.

What could she say, putting on her falsetto voice was a habit that was super hard to break. The Sneasels and Weavile, well they weren’t completely defeated, but they were contained. Sort of. Well they were dealt with enough that it wasn’t imperative that the group stay behind, unless they wanted to. Melody and Princess were not those people.

“Let’s go to the Rose Garden,” Melody said to Princess, the Stufful completely agreeing with her.

Princess wouldn’t have stayed behind anyway, there was at least a fifty percent chance that Princess would have just gone on to the Rose Garden by herself and left Melody by herself. So in agreement, the pair were away.

The very first thing Melody did when they got to the Rose Garden was squeal loud, really really loud. What could she say, Swinub were super cute and Melody loved herself cute pokemon. Sure, they were being quite destructive now, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t appreciate herself some cuties.

“Okay Princess,” she said, “We have ourselves a bit of an advantage here. You know Brutal Swing, and ice types are weak to fighting types.”

She looked over at the Swinub.

“So find yourself a nice group of sorta clustered together Swinub,” she started her orders. “Then I want you to hit them with a Baby Doll Eyes so they can’t hit back as hard, and then I want you to use [B]Brutal Swing[B] followed up by another Brutal Swing, to really hit home the message that we ain’t here to play.”

As the angry horde of Sneasels hissed and snarled, the group of trainers called forth their Pokemon, ready to defend the farm. While the trainers issued orders to their Pokemon, Weavile’s eyes narrowed and it munched on a berry, waiting to see who would face it head-on first. The two Cloud Garden trial captains had joined the fray as well, Jet’s Skarmory and Samuel’s Sudowoodo ready for battle. As they felt their advantage in numbers becoming weaker by the minute with all of these new opponents, the Sneasels grew restless and launched their next assault.

Blurs of black and magenta flew throughout the orchard as the Sneasel pounced into action. Bill’s Squirtle, Silver was first to retaliate, spraying a stream of Bubbles to knock a few of the Sneasels off their feet. Silver followed the strike up with a Water Gun to knock one of the Sneasels in the middle back into a tree and finished off the combo by ramming into it with a Tackle of his hard shell. The Sneasel slumped over, defeated, which did not sit well with its two allies that had been previously targeted by the Bubble. They converged on Silver, one of them striking him in the back with a Feint Attack while the other Scratched him on the shell for light damage.

Choux the Snubbull was the first to come to Silver’s defense, hey eyes glowing red and punched and kicked at a Sneasel with a flurry of Close Combat maneuvers, instantly knocking it out. As she panted to catch her breath, her guard lowered, she stared down the third Sneasel with a Scary Face, hoping to scare it off, but the weasel would not be deterred so easily. It quickly slipped behind the Snubbull and hit her with a Faint Attack causing her to become so surprised that her Rattled disposition caused her adrenaline to spike.

While all of the enemies darted about rapidly, only one calmly remained in place while eating its berry; Weavile. Nuhuko the Lunatone locked in on the big boss and fired forth a Power Gem, a reddish beam of light striking Weavile in the shoulder, causing it to drop its berry. If the Lunatone wanted its attention, it surely got it now. Leering angrily, the Weavile suddenly darted forward as fast as it could. However, once it got within striking distance of Nuhuko, the Lunatone released a blast of energy that distorted the very fabric of physics in the surrounding area. A cube-shaped dimension known as a Trick Room filled the clearing and appeared to warp the movement of the Pokemon caught in it. However, when Nuhuko turned its attention back to the Weavile, the boss was missing. Nuhuko began looking around for it, but by the time it was finally located, it was too late. Weavile had slipped into the Lunatone’s blind spot and struck it from behind with a Feint Attack for solid damage.

Back in the conflict with Sneasel, Choux seemed to be running circles around her foe as her Rattled adrenaline gave her an advantage over the Sneasel she had shown her Scary Face to. However, as the properties of the Trick Room warped the area, Choux suddenly found herself much slower than the Sneasel, who Scratched her vengefully. All she could muster after that was to clamp down her jaw on the Sneasel’s arm with a light Bite.

Caeda the Skarmory swooped into action next, crashing into the ground with her talons out first in order to kick up a Rock Slide that battered several Sneasel for considerable damage. She then kicked back off the ground and flew into the heart of the Trick Room, ramming the Weavile with her tough Iron Head. Weavile groaned as the Skarmory continued her fly-by, gliding out of range. Hotstuff the Charmander began concentrating deeply, ready to Focus all of his energy into a massive Punch on the Weavile, but was immediately knocked onto his back as a random Sneasel promptly Faked him Out. He blew forth a Flamethrower in frustration, catching the Sneasel more than the Weavile, but dealing a good amount of damage nonetheless. As the Sneasel fell in defeat, Hotstuff followed up with a second Flamethrower, catching the Weavile head-on this time. Weavile hissed as some of the snow melted and rammed into Hotstuff with a strong Quick Attack.

With Sneasel swarming the Pokemon from all directions, a contingent of Pokemon stood firmly to take them all on. Lune the Eevee made her best attempt to kick up a Sand Attack, slapping a paw full of snow in a Sneasel’s face to little effect. It did buy her time however to pepper it with a flurry of Swift stars. Louise the Mawile emitted a Sweet Scent from her Venus fly trap-like horn which lured in a number of Sneasel. She clocked one of them with a Power-Up Punch, her fist glowing orange and further bolstering her attack. She then grappled the Sneasel tightly and after planting her horn firmly in the ground, she flipped both herself and the Sneasel high into the air before slamming her opponent down on the ground with a hard Seismic Toss, knocking the Sneasel out in the process.

Meanwhile, Rotom as well as Belial the Houndoom faced off against their own mobs of Sneasels. Rotom began Charging up as much electricity as it could before Discharging it on a group of unsuspecting Sneasels for considerable damage. As it prepared to strike again, one of the Sneasels snuck up from behind and hit it with a Feint Attack for decent damage before becoming fried by a second Discharge that knocked it out and paralyzed two other weakened Sneasels. Belial the Houndoom picked out a Sneasel from the group and singed it with an Ember. As the Sneasel retaliated with a Quick Attack, the Houndoom swatted it down with a strike from his pointed Iron Tail, knocking it out.

As the remaining Pokemon converge on the Weavile, a number of Sneasels came to its defense. Looking to take out the Trick Room to regain their advantage, the Sneasels circled around Nuhuko menacingly. A pair of Sneasel lunged forward, hitting the wall of the dimension with an array of Fury Swipes which caused the walls to momentarily shake and glitch out, but as Lune offered the Lunatone a Helping Hand, Nuhuko was able to resupply the field with more energy.

It was now Leo the Spheal’s time to shine as the proud little sea lion pup barked his fiercest Growl in Weavile’s direction, getting its attention. As he then Curled into a Defensive ball, Rika the Espeon sped through the crowd of Sneasels, hitting a few of them with a Quick Attack before ramming into Weavile with a Tackle. Weavile was knocked backwards, losing its balance just in time for Caeda the Skarmory to swoop back in and ram it with another Iron Head. Leo then rolled forward, and with encouragement from Rika’s Helping Hand, collided with the Weavile for a powerful Rollout.

Weavile had taken quite a few beatings at this point and Screeched loudly in a combination of anger, frustration, and pain, hurting everyone’s ears in the process. Weavile began glowing a light blue before sending an Avalanche of snow and ice in all directions. Caeda, Rika, Nuhuko, Hotstuff, Lune, and Leo were all caught in the powerful attack, although Hotstuff’s natural resistances and Leo’s Thick Fat lessened the blow for them individually.

“Great job, guys!” Jet called out as he took care of a Sneasel with his Skarmory. The Weavile was breathing pretty heavily but appeared to still have some fight left in it. A few of the trainers’ Pokemon had taken some decent hits as well, but for the most part everyone was still raring to go. As the trainers began to assess the situation, an old and frantic voice crackled over Jet’s walkie-talkie. “Jet! We need you over here! Swinub… they’re taking over the garden!”

Jet bit his lip and summoned one of the Mudsdale-drawn carriages. “Don’t worry, we can handle things here,” Samuel spoke with a reassuring nod. Jet nodded back and addressed the group, “Looks like we’re needed over at the Rose Garden as well. You’re welcome to remain here and help out against the Sneasels, but if you wish to tag along, come with me! The other carriage will remain here if any of you need a ride later.” Jet boarded the sleigh with the trainers who volunteered to follow him and they were on their way.

~~~~~~~

It was a short ride back the way they came as they headed in the direction of town. However, before they arrived there, they turned west and made their way toward the Rose Garden. What was once a beautiful garden filled with vibrant flowers was now a winter wonderland, filled with wilted grass type Pokemon. There was a sea of brown across the garden as well, as a horde of Swinub had taken over and were grazing on various plants as well as rooting up mud and dirt everywhere.

The group fought their way through the icy little boars before making it to the center of the garden where they found Primrose, the young heiress of the garden huddled with her Musharna for warmth while the old gardener Poppy attempted to hold off Swinub with a rake. “Thank goodness!” Poppy breathed a sigh of relief, “Everyone was stuck at town, but my Gogoat and I fought our way here to protect young Mistress Nightingale. Gogoat didn’t last too long, unfortunately, and young mistress has gotten a bit of a chill here…” Primrose had Poppy’s coat draped over her shoulders and was barely conscious as the cold had made her too weak to stand. The storm had come too suddenly, and she was unable to escape the garden in time before it hit. “Alright guys, let’s take care of these Swinub so we can get Primrose safely back to town!” Jet called out, calling forth his Skarmory once again.

You are now presented with a choice. You may either continue fighting Sneasel and Weavile at the Oran Orchard, or you may take on Swinub at the Rose Garden. If you choose the latter, simply include the travel and your new orders in your response. There will be ample opportunities to move between the areas each week, so do not worry about being left behind!

Aside from the leader, the invaders seemed to crumple beneath the trainers' combined might. A large number of sneasel were incapacitated, and the weavile certainly seemed to be a tad worse for wear, which was good news on multiple fronts. The first thing was obvious- the fewer enemies there still were active at a given time, the fewer problems they could cause for the reclamation effort in the near future. Secondly, the ease at which most of them fell meant that there were very few spent resources, which would be an invaluable asset when it comes down to the long game. And as an added third bonus, the Sharp Claw Pokemon will likely be too demoralized when they came to to rejoin the fray later- something everyone defending the area would undoubtedly be appreciative of when the time comes. Not a bad tactical advantage from one couple-minute scuffle at all, Chroma thought.

The news that there was another assault on the Rose Garden was hardly surprising, but had a definite impact on the battlefield. With so many enemies already down and out of the count, many trainers saw it more prudent to travel in that direction- including many that were wearing down the weavile leader, for some reason. "Louise, we need to keep the general occupied. Use Incinerate to draw his attention while the others get away!" The mawile nodded and immediately flipped her horns over head, flames already gathering at the back of the throat like some sort of deranged cannon.

Honestly, Chroma was glad that the others' failed to enact proper judgement for the boss- it gave her excuse to stay away from the Rose Garden, at least for a little while longer. She still didn't feel too confident about having to face Queen Tsareena again after the War of the Roses, and there was no denying that she would be present in some way. Of course, with this being a more genuine war, heading there a bit earlier may have been better in terms of getting a bit more political standing in the Garden as a whole... 'No, Chroma, you need to focus on the here and now,' she thought to herself, bringing fer focus back to her pokemon.

"Right, time to put your strength increase to good use!" she declared, confidence clear in her voice once again. "Now, use Iron Head to bash the boss's health even lower than before, then Play with them as Roughly as you wish! If they're already down, then turn the last attack against one of the remaining sneasel instead!" Louise rolled her eyes at the deliberate wording, but smiled faintly anyway- how much would she need to push to mess with a Dark Type's mind, she couldn't help but wonder.

As the angry horde of Sneasels hissed and snarled, the group of trainers called forth their Pokemon, ready to defend the farm. While the trainers issued orders to their Pokemon, Weavile’s eyes narrowed and it munched on a berry, waiting to see who would face it head-on first. The two Cloud Garden trial captains had joined the fray as well, Jet’s Skarmory and Samuel’s Sudowoodo ready for battle. As they felt their advantage in numbers becoming weaker by the minute with all of these new opponents, the Sneasels grew restless and launched their next assault.

Blurs of black and magenta flew throughout the orchard as the Sneasel pounced into action. Bill’s Squirtle, Silver was first to retaliate, spraying a stream of Bubbles to knock a few of the Sneasels off their feet. Silver followed the strike up with a Water Gun to knock one of the Sneasels in the middle back into a tree and finished off the combo by ramming into it with a Tackle of his hard shell. The Sneasel slumped over, defeated, which did not sit well with its two allies that had been previously targeted by the Bubble. They converged on Silver, one of them striking him in the back with a Feint Attack while the other Scratched him on the shell for light damage.

Choux the Snubbull was the first to come to Silver’s defense, hey eyes glowing red and punched and kicked at a Sneasel with a flurry of Close Combat maneuvers, instantly knocking it out. As she panted to catch her breath, her guard lowered, she stared down the third Sneasel with a Scary Face, hoping to scare it off, but the weasel would not be deterred so easily. It quickly slipped behind the Snubbull and hit her with a Faint Attack causing her to become so surprised that her Rattled disposition caused her adrenaline to spike.

While all of the enemies darted about rapidly, only one calmly remained in place while eating its berry; Weavile. Nuhuko the Lunatone locked in on the big boss and fired forth a Power Gem, a reddish beam of light striking Weavile in the shoulder, causing it to drop its berry. If the Lunatone wanted its attention, it surely got it now. Leering angrily, the Weavile suddenly darted forward as fast as it could. However, once it got within striking distance of Nuhuko, the Lunatone released a blast of energy that distorted the very fabric of physics in the surrounding area. A cube-shaped dimension known as a Trick Room filled the clearing and appeared to warp the movement of the Pokemon caught in it. However, when Nuhuko turned its attention back to the Weavile, the boss was missing. Nuhuko began looking around for it, but by the time it was finally located, it was too late. Weavile had slipped into the Lunatone’s blind spot and struck it from behind with a Feint Attack for solid damage.

Back in the conflict with Sneasel, Choux seemed to be running circles around her foe as her Rattled adrenaline gave her an advantage over the Sneasel she had shown her Scary Face to. However, as the properties of the Trick Room warped the area, Choux suddenly found herself much slower than the Sneasel, who Scratched her vengefully. All she could muster after that was to clamp down her jaw on the Sneasel’s arm with a light Bite.

Caeda the Skarmory swooped into action next, crashing into the ground with her talons out first in order to kick up a Rock Slide that battered several Sneasel for considerable damage. She then kicked back off the ground and flew into the heart of the Trick Room, ramming the Weavile with her tough Iron Head. Weavile groaned as the Skarmory continued her fly-by, gliding out of range. Hotstuff the Charmander began concentrating deeply, ready to Focus all of his energy into a massive Punch on the Weavile, but was immediately knocked onto his back as a random Sneasel promptly Faked him Out. He blew forth a Flamethrower in frustration, catching the Sneasel more than the Weavile, but dealing a good amount of damage nonetheless. As the Sneasel fell in defeat, Hotstuff followed up with a second Flamethrower, catching the Weavile head-on this time. Weavile hissed as some of the snow melted and rammed into Hotstuff with a strong Quick Attack.

With Sneasel swarming the Pokemon from all directions, a contingent of Pokemon stood firmly to take them all on. Lune the Eevee made her best attempt to kick up a Sand Attack, slapping a paw full of snow in a Sneasel’s face to little effect. It did buy her time however to pepper it with a flurry of Swift stars. Louise the Mawile emitted a Sweet Scent from her Venus fly trap-like horn which lured in a number of Sneasel. She clocked one of them with a Power-Up Punch, her fist glowing orange and further bolstering her attack. She then grappled the Sneasel tightly and after planting her horn firmly in the ground, she flipped both herself and the Sneasel high into the air before slamming her opponent down on the ground with a hard Seismic Toss, knocking the Sneasel out in the process.

Meanwhile, Rotom as well as Belial the Houndoom faced off against their own mobs of Sneasels. Rotom began Charging up as much electricity as it could before Discharging it on a group of unsuspecting Sneasels for considerable damage. As it prepared to strike again, one of the Sneasels snuck up from behind and hit it with a Feint Attack for decent damage before becoming fried by a second Discharge that knocked it out and paralyzed two other weakened Sneasels. Belial the Houndoom picked out a Sneasel from the group and singed it with an Ember. As the Sneasel retaliated with a Quick Attack, the Houndoom swatted it down with a strike from his pointed Iron Tail, knocking it out.

As the remaining Pokemon converge on the Weavile, a number of Sneasels came to its defense. Looking to take out the Trick Room to regain their advantage, the Sneasels circled around Nuhuko menacingly. A pair of Sneasel lunged forward, hitting the wall of the dimension with an array of Fury Swipes which caused the walls to momentarily shake and glitch out, but as Lune offered the Lunatone a Helping Hand, Nuhuko was able to resupply the field with more energy.

It was now Leo the Spheal’s time to shine as the proud little sea lion pup barked his fiercest Growl in Weavile’s direction, getting its attention. As he then Curled into a Defensive ball, Rika the Espeon sped through the crowd of Sneasels, hitting a few of them with a Quick Attack before ramming into Weavile with a Tackle. Weavile was knocked backwards, losing its balance just in time for Caeda the Skarmory to swoop back in and ram it with another Iron Head. Leo then rolled forward, and with encouragement from Rika’s Helping Hand, collided with the Weavile for a powerful Rollout.

Weavile had taken quite a few beatings at this point and Screeched loudly in a combination of anger, frustration, and pain, hurting everyone’s ears in the process. Weavile began glowing a light blue before sending an Avalanche of snow and ice in all directions. Caeda, Rika, Nuhuko, Hotstuff, Lune, and Leo were all caught in the powerful attack, although Hotstuff’s natural resistances and Leo’s Thick Fat lessened the blow for them individually.

“Great job, guys!” Jet called out as he took care of a Sneasel with his Skarmory. The Weavile was breathing pretty heavily but appeared to still have some fight left in it. A few of the trainers’ Pokemon had taken some decent hits as well, but for the most part everyone was still raring to go. As the trainers began to assess the situation, an old and frantic voice crackled over Jet’s walkie-talkie. “Jet! We need you over here! Swinub… they’re taking over the garden!”

Jet bit his lip and summoned one of the Mudsdale-drawn carriages. “Don’t worry, we can handle things here,” Samuel spoke with a reassuring nod. Jet nodded back and addressed the group, “Looks like we’re needed over at the Rose Garden as well. You’re welcome to remain here and help out against the Sneasels, but if you wish to tag along, come with me! The other carriage will remain here if any of you need a ride later.” Jet boarded the sleigh with the trainers who volunteered to follow him and they were on their way.

~~~~~~~

It was a short ride back the way they came as they headed in the direction of town. However, before they arrived there, they turned west and made their way toward the Rose Garden. What was once a beautiful garden filled with vibrant flowers was now a winter wonderland, filled with wilted grass type Pokemon. There was a sea of brown across the garden as well, as a horde of Swinub had taken over and were grazing on various plants as well as rooting up mud and dirt everywhere.

The group fought their way through the icy little boars before making it to the center of the garden where they found Primrose, the young heiress of the garden huddled with her Musharna for warmth while the old gardener Poppy attempted to hold off Swinub with a rake. “Thank goodness!” Poppy breathed a sigh of relief, “Everyone was stuck at town, but my Gogoat and I fought our way here to protect young Mistress Nightingale. Gogoat didn’t last too long, unfortunately, and young mistress has gotten a bit of a chill here…” Primrose had Poppy’s coat draped over her shoulders and was barely conscious as the cold had made her too weak to stand. The storm had come too suddenly, and she was unable to escape the garden in time before it hit. “Alright guys, let’s take care of these Swinub so we can get Primrose safely back to town!” Jet called out, calling forth his Skarmory once again.

You are now presented with a choice. You may either continue fighting Sneasel and Weavile at the Oran Orchard, or you may take on Swinub at the Rose Garden. If you choose the latter, simply include the travel and your new orders in your response. There will be ample opportunities to move between the areas each week, so do not worry about being left behind!

Big snapped his fingers as the focus punch was interrupted by one of the wayward Sneasel's Fake Outs. "Should have known better..." He mutters to himself but nods approvingly as the flamethrowers make contact. The avalanche then launches and he winces at the impact, but more for the other pokemon caught up in it than Hotstuff. "Alright good hustle Hotstuff! Now-" He is cut off by the Walkie-Talkie which crackles with an update from another part of the Cloud Garden, most of it Big is only half-listening to until one sentence rings out.

"Swinub... They're taking over the garden!"

A chill of excitement cuts through his thick, heavy coat and runs down Big's back, while simultaneously Hotstuff's head perks up from the avalanche, he heard the buzzword too. They look at each other and grin and Big quickly recalls the charmander to his pokeball and runs after Jet, "We'll come too!" He says with likely more excitement than is probably appropriate for the situation of defending people's homes and livelihoods. He hops onto the carriage and as they head towards the Rose garden he pops Hotstuff back out next to him. "Ok so here is the plan." He explains to the charmander as he takes out a Potion and applies it to where a bruise was forming on the fire-type's chest where the quick attack impacted. "I'm going to scan with my pokedex for the one we want, and as soon as we find it you are going to toss it away from the group with a seismic toss, make it a one on one fight. Then we'll follow up with your flamethrower and keep it off balance with a strength. Once we catch it than we'll focus all our strength on helping everyone." Hotstuff nods seriously. "Got it boss." Knowing the Charmander understands he recalls the Pokemon so he can rest up before they arrive. As they arrive Big already has his pokedex out and ready to scan for a female swinub and lets Hotstuff back out to leap into action as soon as the pokedex finds what they're looking for.

As the angry horde of Sneasels hissed and snarled, the group of trainers called forth their Pokemon, ready to defend the farm. While the trainers issued orders to their Pokemon, Weavile’s eyes narrowed and it munched on a berry, waiting to see who would face it head-on first. The two Cloud Garden trial captains had joined the fray as well, Jet’s Skarmory and Samuel’s Sudowoodo ready for battle. As they felt their advantage in numbers becoming weaker by the minute with all of these new opponents, the Sneasels grew restless and launched their next assault.

Blurs of black and magenta flew throughout the orchard as the Sneasel pounced into action. Bill’s Squirtle, Silver was first to retaliate, spraying a stream of Bubbles to knock a few of the Sneasels off their feet. Silver followed the strike up with a Water Gun to knock one of the Sneasels in the middle back into a tree and finished off the combo by ramming into it with a Tackle of his hard shell. The Sneasel slumped over, defeated, which did not sit well with its two allies that had been previously targeted by the Bubble. They converged on Silver, one of them striking him in the back with a Feint Attack while the other Scratched him on the shell for light damage.

Choux the Snubbull was the first to come to Silver’s defense, hey eyes glowing red and punched and kicked at a Sneasel with a flurry of Close Combat maneuvers, instantly knocking it out. As she panted to catch her breath, her guard lowered, she stared down the third Sneasel with a Scary Face, hoping to scare it off, but the weasel would not be deterred so easily. It quickly slipped behind the Snubbull and hit her with a Faint Attack causing her to become so surprised that her Rattled disposition caused her adrenaline to spike.

While all of the enemies darted about rapidly, only one calmly remained in place while eating its berry; Weavile. Nuhuko the Lunatone locked in on the big boss and fired forth a Power Gem, a reddish beam of light striking Weavile in the shoulder, causing it to drop its berry. If the Lunatone wanted its attention, it surely got it now. Leering angrily, the Weavile suddenly darted forward as fast as it could. However, once it got within striking distance of Nuhuko, the Lunatone released a blast of energy that distorted the very fabric of physics in the surrounding area. A cube-shaped dimension known as a Trick Room filled the clearing and appeared to warp the movement of the Pokemon caught in it. However, when Nuhuko turned its attention back to the Weavile, the boss was missing. Nuhuko began looking around for it, but by the time it was finally located, it was too late. Weavile had slipped into the Lunatone’s blind spot and struck it from behind with a Feint Attack for solid damage.

Back in the conflict with Sneasel, Choux seemed to be running circles around her foe as her Rattled adrenaline gave her an advantage over the Sneasel she had shown her Scary Face to. However, as the properties of the Trick Room warped the area, Choux suddenly found herself much slower than the Sneasel, who Scratched her vengefully. All she could muster after that was to clamp down her jaw on the Sneasel’s arm with a light Bite.

Caeda the Skarmory swooped into action next, crashing into the ground with her talons out first in order to kick up a Rock Slide that battered several Sneasel for considerable damage. She then kicked back off the ground and flew into the heart of the Trick Room, ramming the Weavile with her tough Iron Head. Weavile groaned as the Skarmory continued her fly-by, gliding out of range. Hotstuff the Charmander began concentrating deeply, ready to Focus all of his energy into a massive Punch on the Weavile, but was immediately knocked onto his back as a random Sneasel promptly Faked him Out. He blew forth a Flamethrower in frustration, catching the Sneasel more than the Weavile, but dealing a good amount of damage nonetheless. As the Sneasel fell in defeat, Hotstuff followed up with a second Flamethrower, catching the Weavile head-on this time. Weavile hissed as some of the snow melted and rammed into Hotstuff with a strong Quick Attack.

With Sneasel swarming the Pokemon from all directions, a contingent of Pokemon stood firmly to take them all on. Lune the Eevee made her best attempt to kick up a Sand Attack, slapping a paw full of snow in a Sneasel’s face to little effect. It did buy her time however to pepper it with a flurry of Swift stars. Louise the Mawile emitted a Sweet Scent from her Venus fly trap-like horn which lured in a number of Sneasel. She clocked one of them with a Power-Up Punch, her fist glowing orange and further bolstering her attack. She then grappled the Sneasel tightly and after planting her horn firmly in the ground, she flipped both herself and the Sneasel high into the air before slamming her opponent down on the ground with a hard Seismic Toss, knocking the Sneasel out in the process.

Meanwhile, Rotom as well as Belial the Houndoom faced off against their own mobs of Sneasels. Rotom began Charging up as much electricity as it could before Discharging it on a group of unsuspecting Sneasels for considerable damage. As it prepared to strike again, one of the Sneasels snuck up from behind and hit it with a Feint Attack for decent damage before becoming fried by a second Discharge that knocked it out and paralyzed two other weakened Sneasels. Belial the Houndoom picked out a Sneasel from the group and singed it with an Ember. As the Sneasel retaliated with a Quick Attack, the Houndoom swatted it down with a strike from his pointed Iron Tail, knocking it out.

As the remaining Pokemon converge on the Weavile, a number of Sneasels came to its defense. Looking to take out the Trick Room to regain their advantage, the Sneasels circled around Nuhuko menacingly. A pair of Sneasel lunged forward, hitting the wall of the dimension with an array of Fury Swipes which caused the walls to momentarily shake and glitch out, but as Lune offered the Lunatone a Helping Hand, Nuhuko was able to resupply the field with more energy.

It was now Leo the Spheal’s time to shine as the proud little sea lion pup barked his fiercest Growl in Weavile’s direction, getting its attention. As he then Curled into a Defensive ball, Rika the Espeon sped through the crowd of Sneasels, hitting a few of them with a Quick Attack before ramming into Weavile with a Tackle. Weavile was knocked backwards, losing its balance just in time for Caeda the Skarmory to swoop back in and ram it with another Iron Head. Leo then rolled forward, and with encouragement from Rika’s Helping Hand, collided with the Weavile for a powerful Rollout.

Weavile had taken quite a few beatings at this point and Screeched loudly in a combination of anger, frustration, and pain, hurting everyone’s ears in the process. Weavile began glowing a light blue before sending an Avalanche of snow and ice in all directions. Caeda, Rika, Nuhuko, Hotstuff, Lune, and Leo were all caught in the powerful attack, although Hotstuff’s natural resistances and Leo’s Thick Fat lessened the blow for them individually.

“Great job, guys!” Jet called out as he took care of a Sneasel with his Skarmory. The Weavile was breathing pretty heavily but appeared to still have some fight left in it. A few of the trainers’ Pokemon had taken some decent hits as well, but for the most part everyone was still raring to go. As the trainers began to assess the situation, an old and frantic voice crackled over Jet’s walkie-talkie. “Jet! We need you over here! Swinub… they’re taking over the garden!”

Jet bit his lip and summoned one of the Mudsdale-drawn carriages. “Don’t worry, we can handle things here,” Samuel spoke with a reassuring nod. Jet nodded back and addressed the group, “Looks like we’re needed over at the Rose Garden as well. You’re welcome to remain here and help out against the Sneasels, but if you wish to tag along, come with me! The other carriage will remain here if any of you need a ride later.” Jet boarded the sleigh with the trainers who volunteered to follow him and they were on their way.

~~~~~~~

It was a short ride back the way they came as they headed in the direction of town. However, before they arrived there, they turned west and made their way toward the Rose Garden. What was once a beautiful garden filled with vibrant flowers was now a winter wonderland, filled with wilted grass type Pokemon. There was a sea of brown across the garden as well, as a horde of Swinub had taken over and were grazing on various plants as well as rooting up mud and dirt everywhere.

The group fought their way through the icy little boars before making it to the center of the garden where they found Primrose, the young heiress of the garden huddled with her Musharna for warmth while the old gardener Poppy attempted to hold off Swinub with a rake. “Thank goodness!” Poppy breathed a sigh of relief, “Everyone was stuck at town, but my Gogoat and I fought our way here to protect young Mistress Nightingale. Gogoat didn’t last too long, unfortunately, and young mistress has gotten a bit of a chill here…” Primrose had Poppy’s coat draped over her shoulders and was barely conscious as the cold had made her too weak to stand. The storm had come too suddenly, and she was unable to escape the garden in time before it hit. “Alright guys, let’s take care of these Swinub so we can get Primrose safely back to town!” Jet called out, calling forth his Skarmory once again.

You are now presented with a choice. You may either continue fighting Sneasel and Weavile at the Oran Orchard, or you may take on Swinub at the Rose Garden. If you choose the latter, simply include the travel and your new orders in your response. There will be ample opportunities to move between the areas each week, so do not worry about being left behind!

Liawe watched the events of the battle unfold with equal parts anticipation, delight and horror. They seemed to have the upper hand for now, but some people were already leaving, required to defend elsewhere. She decided to stay here though. This battle wasn't finished yet, she reasoned. Plus she wasn't sure she could drag Caeda away quite yet, the Skarmory seemed to be enjoying the carnage that unfolded. Even as the Avalanche knocked her around, Caeda seemed determined to bring hell upon this Weavile. Screeching, she flew high once more to survey the area, before diving in with an Iron Head to the Weavile, the repeated assault hopefully taking its toll on the Ice type. She wasn't done yet though, as she decided to take a second fly-by to unleash another Iron Head, followed by a Rock Slide as she backed upwards and away. This prey was smart, but Caeda thought she was smarter. The continued barrage of devastating strikes would surely whittle it down, and the thought of seeing that Weavile finally collapse was no small motivator for the Steel type.

Liawe meanwhile, gasped at her Pokemon's efforts, the Skarmory's second, unrequested assault coming in. Liawe knew what had brought it on, but even so, she hadn't really been in that much danger from the Weavile, had she? She knew the Flying type was protective of her team, including her, but even so... She'd never gone after anything this viciously before. She just hoped it wouldn't become a frequent occurrence for the Skarmory. She had enough trouble dealing with Hope.

As the angry horde of Sneasels hissed and snarled, the group of trainers called forth their Pokemon, ready to defend the farm. While the trainers issued orders to their Pokemon, Weavile’s eyes narrowed and it munched on a berry, waiting to see who would face it head-on first. The two Cloud Garden trial captains had joined the fray as well, Jet’s Skarmory and Samuel’s Sudowoodo ready for battle. As they felt their advantage in numbers becoming weaker by the minute with all of these new opponents, the Sneasels grew restless and launched their next assault.

Blurs of black and magenta flew throughout the orchard as the Sneasel pounced into action. Bill’s Squirtle, Silver was first to retaliate, spraying a stream of Bubbles to knock a few of the Sneasels off their feet. Silver followed the strike up with a Water Gun to knock one of the Sneasels in the middle back into a tree and finished off the combo by ramming into it with a Tackle of his hard shell. The Sneasel slumped over, defeated, which did not sit well with its two allies that had been previously targeted by the Bubble. They converged on Silver, one of them striking him in the back with a Feint Attack while the other Scratched him on the shell for light damage.

Choux the Snubbull was the first to come to Silver’s defense, hey eyes glowing red and punched and kicked at a Sneasel with a flurry of Close Combat maneuvers, instantly knocking it out. As she panted to catch her breath, her guard lowered, she stared down the third Sneasel with a Scary Face, hoping to scare it off, but the weasel would not be deterred so easily. It quickly slipped behind the Snubbull and hit her with a Faint Attack causing her to become so surprised that her Rattled disposition caused her adrenaline to spike.

While all of the enemies darted about rapidly, only one calmly remained in place while eating its berry; Weavile. Nuhuko the Lunatone locked in on the big boss and fired forth a Power Gem, a reddish beam of light striking Weavile in the shoulder, causing it to drop its berry. If the Lunatone wanted its attention, it surely got it now. Leering angrily, the Weavile suddenly darted forward as fast as it could. However, once it got within striking distance of Nuhuko, the Lunatone released a blast of energy that distorted the very fabric of physics in the surrounding area. A cube-shaped dimension known as a Trick Room filled the clearing and appeared to warp the movement of the Pokemon caught in it. However, when Nuhuko turned its attention back to the Weavile, the boss was missing. Nuhuko began looking around for it, but by the time it was finally located, it was too late. Weavile had slipped into the Lunatone’s blind spot and struck it from behind with a Feint Attack for solid damage.

Back in the conflict with Sneasel, Choux seemed to be running circles around her foe as her Rattled adrenaline gave her an advantage over the Sneasel she had shown her Scary Face to. However, as the properties of the Trick Room warped the area, Choux suddenly found herself much slower than the Sneasel, who Scratched her vengefully. All she could muster after that was to clamp down her jaw on the Sneasel’s arm with a light Bite.

Caeda the Skarmory swooped into action next, crashing into the ground with her talons out first in order to kick up a Rock Slide that battered several Sneasel for considerable damage. She then kicked back off the ground and flew into the heart of the Trick Room, ramming the Weavile with her tough Iron Head. Weavile groaned as the Skarmory continued her fly-by, gliding out of range. Hotstuff the Charmander began concentrating deeply, ready to Focus all of his energy into a massive Punch on the Weavile, but was immediately knocked onto his back as a random Sneasel promptly Faked him Out. He blew forth a Flamethrower in frustration, catching the Sneasel more than the Weavile, but dealing a good amount of damage nonetheless. As the Sneasel fell in defeat, Hotstuff followed up with a second Flamethrower, catching the Weavile head-on this time. Weavile hissed as some of the snow melted and rammed into Hotstuff with a strong Quick Attack.

With Sneasel swarming the Pokemon from all directions, a contingent of Pokemon stood firmly to take them all on. Lune the Eevee made her best attempt to kick up a Sand Attack, slapping a paw full of snow in a Sneasel’s face to little effect. It did buy her time however to pepper it with a flurry of Swift stars. Louise the Mawile emitted a Sweet Scent from her Venus fly trap-like horn which lured in a number of Sneasel. She clocked one of them with a Power-Up Punch, her fist glowing orange and further bolstering her attack. She then grappled the Sneasel tightly and after planting her horn firmly in the ground, she flipped both herself and the Sneasel high into the air before slamming her opponent down on the ground with a hard Seismic Toss, knocking the Sneasel out in the process.

Meanwhile, Rotom as well as Belial the Houndoom faced off against their own mobs of Sneasels. Rotom began Charging up as much electricity as it could before Discharging it on a group of unsuspecting Sneasels for considerable damage. As it prepared to strike again, one of the Sneasels snuck up from behind and hit it with a Feint Attack for decent damage before becoming fried by a second Discharge that knocked it out and paralyzed two other weakened Sneasels. Belial the Houndoom picked out a Sneasel from the group and singed it with an Ember. As the Sneasel retaliated with a Quick Attack, the Houndoom swatted it down with a strike from his pointed Iron Tail, knocking it out.

As the remaining Pokemon converge on the Weavile, a number of Sneasels came to its defense. Looking to take out the Trick Room to regain their advantage, the Sneasels circled around Nuhuko menacingly. A pair of Sneasel lunged forward, hitting the wall of the dimension with an array of Fury Swipes which caused the walls to momentarily shake and glitch out, but as Lune offered the Lunatone a Helping Hand, Nuhuko was able to resupply the field with more energy.

It was now Leo the Spheal’s time to shine as the proud little sea lion pup barked his fiercest Growl in Weavile’s direction, getting its attention. As he then Curled into a Defensive ball, Rika the Espeon sped through the crowd of Sneasels, hitting a few of them with a Quick Attack before ramming into Weavile with a Tackle. Weavile was knocked backwards, losing its balance just in time for Caeda the Skarmory to swoop back in and ram it with another Iron Head. Leo then rolled forward, and with encouragement from Rika’s Helping Hand, collided with the Weavile for a powerful Rollout.

Weavile had taken quite a few beatings at this point and Screeched loudly in a combination of anger, frustration, and pain, hurting everyone’s ears in the process. Weavile began glowing a light blue before sending an Avalanche of snow and ice in all directions. Caeda, Rika, Nuhuko, Hotstuff, Lune, and Leo were all caught in the powerful attack, although Hotstuff’s natural resistances and Leo’s Thick Fat lessened the blow for them individually.

“Great job, guys!” Jet called out as he took care of a Sneasel with his Skarmory. The Weavile was breathing pretty heavily but appeared to still have some fight left in it. A few of the trainers’ Pokemon had taken some decent hits as well, but for the most part everyone was still raring to go. As the trainers began to assess the situation, an old and frantic voice crackled over Jet’s walkie-talkie. “Jet! We need you over here! Swinub… they’re taking over the garden!”

Jet bit his lip and summoned one of the Mudsdale-drawn carriages. “Don’t worry, we can handle things here,” Samuel spoke with a reassuring nod. Jet nodded back and addressed the group, “Looks like we’re needed over at the Rose Garden as well. You’re welcome to remain here and help out against the Sneasels, but if you wish to tag along, come with me! The other carriage will remain here if any of you need a ride later.” Jet boarded the sleigh with the trainers who volunteered to follow him and they were on their way.

~~~~~~~

It was a short ride back the way they came as they headed in the direction of town. However, before they arrived there, they turned west and made their way toward the Rose Garden. What was once a beautiful garden filled with vibrant flowers was now a winter wonderland, filled with wilted grass type Pokemon. There was a sea of brown across the garden as well, as a horde of Swinub had taken over and were grazing on various plants as well as rooting up mud and dirt everywhere.

The group fought their way through the icy little boars before making it to the center of the garden where they found Primrose, the young heiress of the garden huddled with her Musharna for warmth while the old gardener Poppy attempted to hold off Swinub with a rake. “Thank goodness!” Poppy breathed a sigh of relief, “Everyone was stuck at town, but my Gogoat and I fought our way here to protect young Mistress Nightingale. Gogoat didn’t last too long, unfortunately, and young mistress has gotten a bit of a chill here…” Primrose had Poppy’s coat draped over her shoulders and was barely conscious as the cold had made her too weak to stand. The storm had come too suddenly, and she was unable to escape the garden in time before it hit. “Alright guys, let’s take care of these Swinub so we can get Primrose safely back to town!” Jet called out, calling forth his Skarmory once again.

You are now presented with a choice. You may either continue fighting Sneasel and Weavile at the Oran Orchard, or you may take on Swinub at the Rose Garden. If you choose the latter, simply include the travel and your new orders in your response. There will be ample opportunities to move between the areas each week, so do not worry about being left behind!

OoC - Just realized I forgot to change my Spheal's Ability to Oblivious as mentioned here.

Leo waited until most of the others were finished with their moves, wanting to make a grand entrance as he drew a deep breath and bellowed loudly to get the leader's attention. As the Weavile whirled around to confront the challenger to its throne, Leo stuck out his tongue and compacted himself in prime for his coup. Meanwhile, one of his feline comrades darted forward, slamming into several Sneasel before colliding with the commander, upsetting its balance. On cue, Jet's Skarmory swooped down to deliver a second smack via steel-solid forehead. Having successfully set up the kingpin, Rika called out encouragement to the small cannonball, who smirked and catapulted forward, bowling into Weavile's belly for a final strike and sending it flying.

Having taken a severe beating at this point, Weavile struggled to stand as it unleashed an ungodly shriek, asserting its dominance as it summoned a sudden mass of snow and ice, covering its adversaries head to toe. With enough wriggling, Leo eventually managed to worm his way to freedom, popping his head out of the white and shaking off the flakes. Fortunately he appeared fairly unscathed thanks to his thick blubber, being naturally equipped to withstand such harsh elements. (Although others who weren't as luckily well-adapted fared worse.)

At that moment, a voice crackled over Jet's communicator, requesting backup at the Rose Garden to help fend off a Swinub infestation. The location caught Jess's attention, having just been present there prior. Her concern immediately went to the Comfee composer and Flabébé chorus she had befriended there earlier, quickly assessing the situation as she weighed her options where to assist. With Weavile in such a weakened state, it looked like the rest could handle it, so she trusted to leave the farm in Samuel's capable hands. Thus she recalled Leo and hopped on the carriage headed towards the garden, hoping her new floral friends were all right.

When they arrived at the entrance gate, sure enough there was a pack of Swinub swarming the grass, which had grown as brown as their coats, effectively buried under a foot of frost. The few blades gasping above the surface to breathe were promptly trampled by hungry horde of boars, munching on plantlife as well as uprooting more mud and earth everywhere. Like a snuff-colored carpet of caramel, sniffing out any other spot of color to consume.

They waded through the sienna sea towards the center, where Jess recognized Mistress Primrose was holed up with her Musharna and trusty caretaker, huddling against the former for warmth while the latter endeavored to fight off the furry piglets with a rake.

“Thank goodness!” Poppy exhaled in relief. “Everyone was stuck at town, but my Gogoat and I fought our way here to protect young Mistress Nightingale. Gogoat didn’t last too long, unfortunately, and young mistress has gotten a bit of a chill here…”

Jess saw that the young girl had the elder man's oversized coat draped over her shuddering shoulders, which seemed to do little to stave off the sniffles she was already experiencing. Considering the exposed state of her dress, made specifically for sun and summer fun, she clearly wasn't prepared for this kind of weather. Her strength seemed almost gone, hardly able to even remain upright. Jess's heart went out to the poor thing, determined to aid in getting the vulnerable child get to safety (not to mention out of guilt for foregoing the game she had hosted not too long ago).

“Go, Epona!”

Jess called upon her steed once again, who snorted in surprise and danced about uncertainly upon finding herself in the middle of a hairy herd, uncomfortable with so many shaggy creatures shuffling around underhoof. Jess hastily extended her hand to calm the whinnying horse down, comfortingly patting her cloud of mane as it whipped about.

“Whoa, easy there, girl! I need you to focus and stay still. See the shivering kid over there? I'd like you to carry her over to the carriage, and help keep her safe and warm until you reach the town. Can you do that?”

The Ponyta blinked, before lowering her hooves and nodding in acknowledgment. She trotted over to the quivering pre-teen, nudging cold skin with a gentle neigh. Jess smiled kindly as she offered her palm to the adolescent.

“Here, Miss Primrose. I'll help you up. Don't worry, she's very sweet. Just hold on tight, we'll get you out of here.”

After lifting the light little lady onto Epona's back, Jess stroked the side of her neck as she gave brief instructions:

“All right, I want you to first clear a path with FIRE SPIN. Then, use your CHOCOLATE MAGIC to prevent them from moving. Once you have an opening, head for the carriage. If any attack comes your way, protect Miss Primrose with FIRE SHIELD. Understood?”

An affirmative nicker as the filly pawed the ground, full of confidence and raring to go.

As the angry horde of Sneasels hissed and snarled, the group of trainers called forth their Pokemon, ready to defend the farm. While the trainers issued orders to their Pokemon, Weavile’s eyes narrowed and it munched on a berry, waiting to see who would face it head-on first. The two Cloud Garden trial captains had joined the fray as well, Jet’s Skarmory and Samuel’s Sudowoodo ready for battle. As they felt their advantage in numbers becoming weaker by the minute with all of these new opponents, the Sneasels grew restless and launched their next assault.

Blurs of black and magenta flew throughout the orchard as the Sneasel pounced into action. Bill’s Squirtle, Silver was first to retaliate, spraying a stream of Bubbles to knock a few of the Sneasels off their feet. Silver followed the strike up with a Water Gun to knock one of the Sneasels in the middle back into a tree and finished off the combo by ramming into it with a Tackle of his hard shell. The Sneasel slumped over, defeated, which did not sit well with its two allies that had been previously targeted by the Bubble. They converged on Silver, one of them striking him in the back with a Feint Attack while the other Scratched him on the shell for light damage.

Choux the Snubbull was the first to come to Silver’s defense, hey eyes glowing red and punched and kicked at a Sneasel with a flurry of Close Combat maneuvers, instantly knocking it out. As she panted to catch her breath, her guard lowered, she stared down the third Sneasel with a Scary Face, hoping to scare it off, but the weasel would not be deterred so easily. It quickly slipped behind the Snubbull and hit her with a Faint Attack causing her to become so surprised that her Rattled disposition caused her adrenaline to spike.

While all of the enemies darted about rapidly, only one calmly remained in place while eating its berry; Weavile. Nuhuko the Lunatone locked in on the big boss and fired forth a Power Gem, a reddish beam of light striking Weavile in the shoulder, causing it to drop its berry. If the Lunatone wanted its attention, it surely got it now. Leering angrily, the Weavile suddenly darted forward as fast as it could. However, once it got within striking distance of Nuhuko, the Lunatone released a blast of energy that distorted the very fabric of physics in the surrounding area. A cube-shaped dimension known as a Trick Room filled the clearing and appeared to warp the movement of the Pokemon caught in it. However, when Nuhuko turned its attention back to the Weavile, the boss was missing. Nuhuko began looking around for it, but by the time it was finally located, it was too late. Weavile had slipped into the Lunatone’s blind spot and struck it from behind with a Feint Attack for solid damage.

Back in the conflict with Sneasel, Choux seemed to be running circles around her foe as her Rattled adrenaline gave her an advantage over the Sneasel she had shown her Scary Face to. However, as the properties of the Trick Room warped the area, Choux suddenly found herself much slower than the Sneasel, who Scratched her vengefully. All she could muster after that was to clamp down her jaw on the Sneasel’s arm with a light Bite.

Caeda the Skarmory swooped into action next, crashing into the ground with her talons out first in order to kick up a Rock Slide that battered several Sneasel for considerable damage. She then kicked back off the ground and flew into the heart of the Trick Room, ramming the Weavile with her tough Iron Head. Weavile groaned as the Skarmory continued her fly-by, gliding out of range. Hotstuff the Charmander began concentrating deeply, ready to Focus all of his energy into a massive Punch on the Weavile, but was immediately knocked onto his back as a random Sneasel promptly Faked him Out. He blew forth a Flamethrower in frustration, catching the Sneasel more than the Weavile, but dealing a good amount of damage nonetheless. As the Sneasel fell in defeat, Hotstuff followed up with a second Flamethrower, catching the Weavile head-on this time. Weavile hissed as some of the snow melted and rammed into Hotstuff with a strong Quick Attack.

With Sneasel swarming the Pokemon from all directions, a contingent of Pokemon stood firmly to take them all on. Lune the Eevee made her best attempt to kick up a Sand Attack, slapping a paw full of snow in a Sneasel’s face to little effect. It did buy her time however to pepper it with a flurry of Swift stars. Louise the Mawile emitted a Sweet Scent from her Venus fly trap-like horn which lured in a number of Sneasel. She clocked one of them with a Power-Up Punch, her fist glowing orange and further bolstering her attack. She then grappled the Sneasel tightly and after planting her horn firmly in the ground, she flipped both herself and the Sneasel high into the air before slamming her opponent down on the ground with a hard Seismic Toss, knocking the Sneasel out in the process.

Meanwhile, Rotom as well as Belial the Houndoom faced off against their own mobs of Sneasels. Rotom began Charging up as much electricity as it could before Discharging it on a group of unsuspecting Sneasels for considerable damage. As it prepared to strike again, one of the Sneasels snuck up from behind and hit it with a Feint Attack for decent damage before becoming fried by a second Discharge that knocked it out and paralyzed two other weakened Sneasels. Belial the Houndoom picked out a Sneasel from the group and singed it with an Ember. As the Sneasel retaliated with a Quick Attack, the Houndoom swatted it down with a strike from his pointed Iron Tail, knocking it out.

As the remaining Pokemon converge on the Weavile, a number of Sneasels came to its defense. Looking to take out the Trick Room to regain their advantage, the Sneasels circled around Nuhuko menacingly. A pair of Sneasel lunged forward, hitting the wall of the dimension with an array of Fury Swipes which caused the walls to momentarily shake and glitch out, but as Lune offered the Lunatone a Helping Hand, Nuhuko was able to resupply the field with more energy.

It was now Leo the Spheal’s time to shine as the proud little sea lion pup barked his fiercest Growl in Weavile’s direction, getting its attention. As he then Curled into a Defensive ball, Rika the Espeon sped through the crowd of Sneasels, hitting a few of them with a Quick Attack before ramming into Weavile with a Tackle. Weavile was knocked backwards, losing its balance just in time for Caeda the Skarmory to swoop back in and ram it with another Iron Head. Leo then rolled forward, and with encouragement from Rika’s Helping Hand, collided with the Weavile for a powerful Rollout.

Weavile had taken quite a few beatings at this point and Screeched loudly in a combination of anger, frustration, and pain, hurting everyone’s ears in the process. Weavile began glowing a light blue before sending an Avalanche of snow and ice in all directions. Caeda, Rika, Nuhuko, Hotstuff, Lune, and Leo were all caught in the powerful attack, although Hotstuff’s natural resistances and Leo’s Thick Fat lessened the blow for them individually.

“Great job, guys!” Jet called out as he took care of a Sneasel with his Skarmory. The Weavile was breathing pretty heavily but appeared to still have some fight left in it. A few of the trainers’ Pokemon had taken some decent hits as well, but for the most part everyone was still raring to go. As the trainers began to assess the situation, an old and frantic voice crackled over Jet’s walkie-talkie. “Jet! We need you over here! Swinub… they’re taking over the garden!”

Jet bit his lip and summoned one of the Mudsdale-drawn carriages. “Don’t worry, we can handle things here,” Samuel spoke with a reassuring nod. Jet nodded back and addressed the group, “Looks like we’re needed over at the Rose Garden as well. You’re welcome to remain here and help out against the Sneasels, but if you wish to tag along, come with me! The other carriage will remain here if any of you need a ride later.” Jet boarded the sleigh with the trainers who volunteered to follow him and they were on their way.

~~~~~~~

It was a short ride back the way they came as they headed in the direction of town. However, before they arrived there, they turned west and made their way toward the Rose Garden. What was once a beautiful garden filled with vibrant flowers was now a winter wonderland, filled with wilted grass type Pokemon. There was a sea of brown across the garden as well, as a horde of Swinub had taken over and were grazing on various plants as well as rooting up mud and dirt everywhere.

The group fought their way through the icy little boars before making it to the center of the garden where they found Primrose, the young heiress of the garden huddled with her Musharna for warmth while the old gardener Poppy attempted to hold off Swinub with a rake. “Thank goodness!” Poppy breathed a sigh of relief, “Everyone was stuck at town, but my Gogoat and I fought our way here to protect young Mistress Nightingale. Gogoat didn’t last too long, unfortunately, and young mistress has gotten a bit of a chill here…” Primrose had Poppy’s coat draped over her shoulders and was barely conscious as the cold had made her too weak to stand. The storm had come too suddenly, and she was unable to escape the garden in time before it hit. “Alright guys, let’s take care of these Swinub so we can get Primrose safely back to town!” Jet called out, calling forth his Skarmory once again.

You are now presented with a choice. You may either continue fighting Sneasel and Weavile at the Oran Orchard, or you may take on Swinub at the Rose Garden. If you choose the latter, simply include the travel and your new orders in your response. There will be ample opportunities to move between the areas each week, so do not worry about being left behind!

Eskil watches the chaos unfold. He tries to keep an eye on everything going on around him, but can't help being drawn back to Belial. Thankfully, the Houndoom doesn't seem to be having a problem. With the help of a Rotom’s Discharge, he only has to face one opponent, and the Sneasel goes down fast. Eskil can’t help but heave a sigh of relief when Belial swats it out of the air.

“That old dog isn’t half bad.” Nyx comments in his ear. He grins and nods in agreement.

Re-assessing the battlefield as the first flurry of attacks calm, Eskil notices that the Lunatone setting up Trick Room managed to succeed, but is struggling to fend off attacks. He opens his mouth to instruct Belial to provide backup, when the announcement of another hoard of Pokemon attacking the Rose Garden rings out.

Trainers quickly split off, with the majority heading to face the new threat. Only a few others stay behind to finish the fight. Belial circles back on the battlefield, heading back to Eskil with a questioning look on his face.

“So are we staying, or heading out to deal with the Swinub?” The Purrloin around his neck asks.

Instead of answering, Eskil calls out to his Houndoom “How are you holding up?” Belial seems to have ended the fight unscathed, but it was always good to double check.

“We’ll stay here. Make sure this gets cleaned up first.” He answers both questions. (Belial is still good to fight, after all. And more effective against these opponents.)

Eskil counts the remaining trainers and their Pokemon. Only a few left. One aiming for the remaining Sneasel and two others attempting to take on the Weavile.

“Let’s help finish things up.” He decides. “If they don’t manage to take it out, use Inferno on the Weavile, then whack it with an Iron Tail. If the Weavile goes down, see if you can drive off at least some of the remaining Sneasel with a Roar once their boss is out of the picture.”

As the angry horde of Sneasels hissed and snarled, the group of trainers called forth their Pokemon, ready to defend the farm. While the trainers issued orders to their Pokemon, Weavile’s eyes narrowed and it munched on a berry, waiting to see who would face it head-on first. The two Cloud Garden trial captains had joined the fray as well, Jet’s Skarmory and Samuel’s Sudowoodo ready for battle. As they felt their advantage in numbers becoming weaker by the minute with all of these new opponents, the Sneasels grew restless and launched their next assault.

Blurs of black and magenta flew throughout the orchard as the Sneasel pounced into action. Bill’s Squirtle, Silver was first to retaliate, spraying a stream of Bubbles to knock a few of the Sneasels off their feet. Silver followed the strike up with a Water Gun to knock one of the Sneasels in the middle back into a tree and finished off the combo by ramming into it with a Tackle of his hard shell. The Sneasel slumped over, defeated, which did not sit well with its two allies that had been previously targeted by the Bubble. They converged on Silver, one of them striking him in the back with a Feint Attack while the other Scratched him on the shell for light damage.

Choux the Snubbull was the first to come to Silver’s defense, hey eyes glowing red and punched and kicked at a Sneasel with a flurry of Close Combat maneuvers, instantly knocking it out. As she panted to catch her breath, her guard lowered, she stared down the third Sneasel with a Scary Face, hoping to scare it off, but the weasel would not be deterred so easily. It quickly slipped behind the Snubbull and hit her with a Faint Attack causing her to become so surprised that her Rattled disposition caused her adrenaline to spike.

While all of the enemies darted about rapidly, only one calmly remained in place while eating its berry; Weavile. Nuhuko the Lunatone locked in on the big boss and fired forth a Power Gem, a reddish beam of light striking Weavile in the shoulder, causing it to drop its berry. If the Lunatone wanted its attention, it surely got it now. Leering angrily, the Weavile suddenly darted forward as fast as it could. However, once it got within striking distance of Nuhuko, the Lunatone released a blast of energy that distorted the very fabric of physics in the surrounding area. A cube-shaped dimension known as a Trick Room filled the clearing and appeared to warp the movement of the Pokemon caught in it. However, when Nuhuko turned its attention back to the Weavile, the boss was missing. Nuhuko began looking around for it, but by the time it was finally located, it was too late. Weavile had slipped into the Lunatone’s blind spot and struck it from behind with a Feint Attack for solid damage.

Back in the conflict with Sneasel, Choux seemed to be running circles around her foe as her Rattled adrenaline gave her an advantage over the Sneasel she had shown her Scary Face to. However, as the properties of the Trick Room warped the area, Choux suddenly found herself much slower than the Sneasel, who Scratched her vengefully. All she could muster after that was to clamp down her jaw on the Sneasel’s arm with a light Bite.

Caeda the Skarmory swooped into action next, crashing into the ground with her talons out first in order to kick up a Rock Slide that battered several Sneasel for considerable damage. She then kicked back off the ground and flew into the heart of the Trick Room, ramming the Weavile with her tough Iron Head. Weavile groaned as the Skarmory continued her fly-by, gliding out of range. Hotstuff the Charmander began concentrating deeply, ready to Focus all of his energy into a massive Punch on the Weavile, but was immediately knocked onto his back as a random Sneasel promptly Faked him Out. He blew forth a Flamethrower in frustration, catching the Sneasel more than the Weavile, but dealing a good amount of damage nonetheless. As the Sneasel fell in defeat, Hotstuff followed up with a second Flamethrower, catching the Weavile head-on this time. Weavile hissed as some of the snow melted and rammed into Hotstuff with a strong Quick Attack.

With Sneasel swarming the Pokemon from all directions, a contingent of Pokemon stood firmly to take them all on. Lune the Eevee made her best attempt to kick up a Sand Attack, slapping a paw full of snow in a Sneasel’s face to little effect. It did buy her time however to pepper it with a flurry of Swift stars. Louise the Mawile emitted a Sweet Scent from her Venus fly trap-like horn which lured in a number of Sneasel. She clocked one of them with a Power-Up Punch, her fist glowing orange and further bolstering her attack. She then grappled the Sneasel tightly and after planting her horn firmly in the ground, she flipped both herself and the Sneasel high into the air before slamming her opponent down on the ground with a hard Seismic Toss, knocking the Sneasel out in the process.

Meanwhile, Rotom as well as Belial the Houndoom faced off against their own mobs of Sneasels. Rotom began Charging up as much electricity as it could before Discharging it on a group of unsuspecting Sneasels for considerable damage. As it prepared to strike again, one of the Sneasels snuck up from behind and hit it with a Feint Attack for decent damage before becoming fried by a second Discharge that knocked it out and paralyzed two other weakened Sneasels. Belial the Houndoom picked out a Sneasel from the group and singed it with an Ember. As the Sneasel retaliated with a Quick Attack, the Houndoom swatted it down with a strike from his pointed Iron Tail, knocking it out.

As the remaining Pokemon converge on the Weavile, a number of Sneasels came to its defense. Looking to take out the Trick Room to regain their advantage, the Sneasels circled around Nuhuko menacingly. A pair of Sneasel lunged forward, hitting the wall of the dimension with an array of Fury Swipes which caused the walls to momentarily shake and glitch out, but as Lune offered the Lunatone a Helping Hand, Nuhuko was able to resupply the field with more energy.

It was now Leo the Spheal’s time to shine as the proud little sea lion pup barked his fiercest Growl in Weavile’s direction, getting its attention. As he then Curled into a Defensive ball, Rika the Espeon sped through the crowd of Sneasels, hitting a few of them with a Quick Attack before ramming into Weavile with a Tackle. Weavile was knocked backwards, losing its balance just in time for Caeda the Skarmory to swoop back in and ram it with another Iron Head. Leo then rolled forward, and with encouragement from Rika’s Helping Hand, collided with the Weavile for a powerful Rollout.

Weavile had taken quite a few beatings at this point and Screeched loudly in a combination of anger, frustration, and pain, hurting everyone’s ears in the process. Weavile began glowing a light blue before sending an Avalanche of snow and ice in all directions. Caeda, Rika, Nuhuko, Hotstuff, Lune, and Leo were all caught in the powerful attack, although Hotstuff’s natural resistances and Leo’s Thick Fat lessened the blow for them individually.

“Great job, guys!” Jet called out as he took care of a Sneasel with his Skarmory. The Weavile was breathing pretty heavily but appeared to still have some fight left in it. A few of the trainers’ Pokemon had taken some decent hits as well, but for the most part everyone was still raring to go. As the trainers began to assess the situation, an old and frantic voice crackled over Jet’s walkie-talkie. “Jet! We need you over here! Swinub… they’re taking over the garden!”

Jet bit his lip and summoned one of the Mudsdale-drawn carriages. “Don’t worry, we can handle things here,” Samuel spoke with a reassuring nod. Jet nodded back and addressed the group, “Looks like we’re needed over at the Rose Garden as well. You’re welcome to remain here and help out against the Sneasels, but if you wish to tag along, come with me! The other carriage will remain here if any of you need a ride later.” Jet boarded the sleigh with the trainers who volunteered to follow him and they were on their way.

~~~~~~~

It was a short ride back the way they came as they headed in the direction of town. However, before they arrived there, they turned west and made their way toward the Rose Garden. What was once a beautiful garden filled with vibrant flowers was now a winter wonderland, filled with wilted grass type Pokemon. There was a sea of brown across the garden as well, as a horde of Swinub had taken over and were grazing on various plants as well as rooting up mud and dirt everywhere.

The group fought their way through the icy little boars before making it to the center of the garden where they found Primrose, the young heiress of the garden huddled with her Musharna for warmth while the old gardener Poppy attempted to hold off Swinub with a rake. “Thank goodness!” Poppy breathed a sigh of relief, “Everyone was stuck at town, but my Gogoat and I fought our way here to protect young Mistress Nightingale. Gogoat didn’t last too long, unfortunately, and young mistress has gotten a bit of a chill here…” Primrose had Poppy’s coat draped over her shoulders and was barely conscious as the cold had made her too weak to stand. The storm had come too suddenly, and she was unable to escape the garden in time before it hit. “Alright guys, let’s take care of these Swinub so we can get Primrose safely back to town!” Jet called out, calling forth his Skarmory once again.

You are now presented with a choice. You may either continue fighting Sneasel and Weavile at the Oran Orchard, or you may take on Swinub at the Rose Garden. If you choose the latter, simply include the travel and your new orders in your response. There will be ample opportunities to move between the areas each week, so do not worry about being left behind!

Athena watched as Choux went into battle with the other trainer's Pokemon. The Snubbul followed after a Squirtle, and attacked one of the Sneasel with a barrage of punches and kicks. The Sneasel didn't even get a chance to fight back. Athena smiled at Choux's success, this was the most determined she had ever seen him. He twisted up his Face as Scary as possible, but his target was out of sight. Choux yelped as he was hit over the head with a Feint Attack. Suddenly, the Fairy-type looked even more wiling to battle. Above the battlefield, a Lunatone activated Trick Room, leaving Athena and her Pokemon startled by its effects. Both the trainer and Pokemon felt slower, while there were other Pokemon moving much more quickly. Athena gritted her teeth and watched as Choux continued with his battle.
Her attention was pulled to Jet's announcement, they needed some people to head to the Rose Garden. Athena looked to Choux, and then to Eclair still seated on one of the sleds. Choux looked tired, and was glancing every so often at his trainer while trying to dodge any further attacks. Athena withdrew a Luxury Ball, and recalled her relieved Snubbull. To speed things up, she let Eclair take a rest as well, returning her back to her Pokeball. A few other trainers were already piling back on to the sleds with their Pokemon. Athena jumped on just in time, stabilizing herself as the Mudsdale began to move.
Athena pushed her way through the crowd of angry Swinub to the center of the garden. The group had surrounded a man with a young girl, the latter looking worse for the wear. Athena pulled her coat around herself, worried she could meet the same fate. She wasn't sure she could help get the pair to safety, but she could certainly make it easier for the rest of the group to do so. She took out another Pokeball and held it out, calling out her Scraggy, Monte. The small yellow Pokemon burst forth and pulled up the pants-like skin around his legs.
"Monte, try to hit a big group of them with Sand-Attack to throw them off guard. Then send out a Dark Pulse and try to go after one of them with a Drain Punch!" Athena directed. Monte struck a superhero pose and ran off into battle, holding his shed skin up to prevent himself from tripping.

Just as things began to heat up in the battle against the Sneasels and Weavile at Oran Orchard, a new conflict arose at the nearby Rose Garden, where an army of Swinub had overtaken the plants. About half of the trainers battling at the Orchard split off with Jet to tackle the new foes, leaving the Samuel and the remainder behind to finish things up with Weavile and its gang.

~~~~~~~

The Sneasels’ numbers had been thinned out considerably, and Weavile had taken quite the beating as well. Through deep breaths, Weavile barked at one of its underlings to fetch it a berry in order to recover. A Sneasel promptly did so, running off to a berry tree to retrieve a plump Oran Berry, and brought it back to its boss. Weavile quickly snatched it out of the Sneasel’s hands and opened its mouth wide to take a bite.

A stream of fire suddenly burst from Louise the Mawile’s big toothy horn, causing a number of small fireballs to pepper the Weavile and Incinerate the berry it was holding in the process. Weavile Screeched again angrily, furious that it was unable to heal up, and charged forward. It dug its Metal Claws into Louise’s skin for moderate damage, causing her to yelp in pain. Caeda the Skarmory came to the Mawile’s aid, swooping in to head-butt the Weavile with an Iron Head. As Weavile staggered backwards in pain, it blew forth an Icy Wind that chilled Caeda to the bone.

Circling back around, Caeda slowed down to time her next strike with Louise, who stood by on Weavile’s other side. Caeda swooped in for a second Iron Head precisely as Louise swung her giant horn around to strike Weavile with an Iron Head as well. Weavile wobbled in place, shaken by the simultaneous super effective hits, allowing Belial the Houndoom to charge up and blast it with a powerful Inferno. As the pillar of flame sizzled out, a very scorched Weavile remained, still standing and still quite angry. “Damn, this guy just won’t go down quietly!” Samuel called out as he observed the battle.

Weavile hissed and leapt forward, enacting its Revenge on the Houndoom by punching him with all its might. However, the strike was mitigated a little by the burns on Weavile’s body restricting some of its movements. Weavile hissed again, calling for five of its cronies to launch an attempt to Beat Up Louise, but the attempt was thwarted by Caeda’s Rock Slide flinging an array of rocks across the battlefield, scattering the Sneasels in the process.

Seizing the opportunity, Lune the Eevee darted forward, pinning a weakened Sneasel with a Quick Attack before jumping back to blast it with a Swift from a distance. Sneasel quickly got up and closed the gap with a Quick Attack of its own, hitting Lune just as she released a second wave of Swift stars to put the Sneasel down for good.

With Weavile standing on its last legs, it was promptly surrounded by Louise the Mawile and Belial the Houndoom. Weavile got into a fighting stance, ready to go, but was a step slow as Louise began to Play Roughly with it. Belial turned around and with a swift whack from his spiked Iron Tail, Weavile fell face first into the snow, defeated. Samuel and the farmers cheered triumphantly, “Woo hoo! Great work guys!”

As their boss fell, many of the Sneasels took notice and began to scatter. Belial let out a triumphant Roar, howling loudly to scare off even more of the intruders. Only a few of the bravest and hungriest Sneasels remained, weakened but still ready to stand their ground. “We’ll take it from here, guys,” Samuel called out, motioning to the remaining Mudsdale-drawn carriage. “You’re welcome to stay and fight off the stragglers, but the Rose Garden might need your help too.” Ringo, the youngest daughter of the Applewood family emerged from the house to hand the trainers each a warm cup of apple cider and an Oran Berry as thanks to Louise, Belial, Caeda, and Lune. “Thank you very much,” she smiled, twirling one of her braided pigtails in her hand.

~~~~~~~

Things at the Rose Garden were not looking as optimistic as the Oran Orchard. The young heiress and newly-appointed trial captain of the garden was battling borderline hypothermia and needed to be escorted to safety in a hurry. A number of the trainers defending the town and its outskirts had arrived after hearing the distress call over the intercom and prepared their Pokemon for battle.

Having visited the Rose Garden a number of times before as well as being participants of Primrose’s summer event just a few months ago, Alex and Jess were especially sympathetic to the girl’s condition and sent out Pokemon to help her out. Seeing as a sea of brown Swinub blocked their path, Epona the Ponyta and Isaac the Alolan Marowak readied themselves to secure a route to the exit where the carriage awaited them.

As the Ponyta nuzzled her gently and the Marowak stood by as her guard, Primrose smiled wearily. “You are both wonderful creatures,” she cooed with her eyes barely open, basking in their warmth. Gently wrapping her arms around Epona’s neck, Primrose rubbed the warm flames on Epona’s mane as the Ponyta controlled them enough to not burn her. As she was too weak to properly sit up on the Ponyta’s back, she settled for clinging to her like a crutch for now while Musharna supported her from the other side. With endless Swinub blocking the path to the exit, Epona blew forth a Fire Spin to scorch a few of the pigs and move them out of the way.

However, this served to not only put them on notice, but turned their attention towards the Ponyta as well. A few of them lunged forward to Tackle their aggressor, but Isaac fended them off with a Flame Wheel, engulfing his body in flames and intercepting the Swinub. Epona then spat a ball of gooey, Chocolatey Magic that trapped a few more of the Swinub in place. Isaac took advantage of the easy targets, whacking them with a Shadow Bone to knock them out. A few of the Swinub reinforcements saw the teamwork the two fire Pokemon displayed and opted to launch their next assault from afar. Isaac countered a quick Powder Snow by melting it with a Flamethrower, while Epona pulled up a Fire Shield to defend both herself and Primrose from an incoming Mud Bomb.

As the horde of angry Swinub was alerted to the small group trying to exit the garden, they began to swarm in to approach them. In order to hold off the assailants, a number of other trainers’ Pokemon joined the fray. Silver the Squirtle blew forth an array of Bubbles to weaken a number of the ground types, following it up with a more concentrated Bubble on a particular Swinub, attempting to finish it off with a super effective Water Gun. However, Swinub Endured the hit and retaliated with a Mud Slap, splashing mud right in the Squirtle’s eyes.

Princess the Stufful faced off against a Swinub, the small board charging forward to Tackle her. However, Princess softened the blow by flashing her Baby-Doll Eyes at it cutely. As the Swinub bounced off her soft, plush fur, it appeared to be infatuated by her Cute Charm. Princess smirked mischievously and flailed about wildly, hitting the Swinub with a Brutal Swing. Before Swinub could even react, aghast that his beloved opponent could hit him, Princess Swung her arms Brutally and hit him again. Now thinking that she was playing hard to get, Swinub went in for another light Tackle, not wanting to hurt her too much.

Meanwhile, Big pulled out his Pokedex and eagerly scanned the group of Swinub for a female one in particular. While it is easier to tell the difference between the evolve Piloswine due to the size of their tusks, the device was able to notice a slight difference in fur length on the Swinub. Once he spotted the female Swinub he was seeking, he pointed it out to Hotstuff, who was healed up and ready to go. The Charmander charged forward and grappled her with a Seismic Toss, pulling her over his back and slamming her down with a suplex. Swinub quickly got up and oinked defiantly, Slapping a hoof full of Mud in Hotstuff’s eyes. The Charmander groaned and blew a Flamethrower in the pig’s direction before following it up with a punch using all of his Strength. Unfortunately, the punch missed its target with his vision obscured, allowing Swinub to sidestep it and ram Hotstuff with a Tackle. Swinub was fairly weakened at this point, but still able to battle.

Last but not least, Monte the Scraggy found himself amongst a mob of Swinub. He attempted to gain their attention by spraying a Sand Attack across them. The attack had little effect however, as the young boars had poor eyesight to begin with and relied mostly on smell. He had their attention now though, as they began Sleuthing the Scraggy’s Odor to locate him. Monte picked out an opponent in the group and fired off a Dark Pulse at his target, knocking it back. The Swinub retaliated by blowing a chilling Powder Snow in Monte’s direction, chilling him quite a bit. Monte rushed in and Punched his opponent while Draining its energy in the process.

~~~~~~~

As the trainers and their Pokemon battled the Swinub throughout the Rose Garden, they made some headway on thinning out the swine’s numbers. As Epona and Isaac arrived at the entrance of the garden, Poppy rushed over with a rake in his hands to keep the pigs at bay. However, as they approached the Mudsdale-drawn carriage, they realized something was wrong. Like Primrose, the Mudsdale was looking a bit frost-bitten and too upset to move. Standing in its way was a group of small icy foxes. More and more of them seemed to appear out of the snow and pushed their way into the garden. Not only was the garden under attack by Swinub, but now Vulpixes of the Alolan variety as well.

“What now? Icy Vulpixes?!” Poppy cried out, his voice being audible for those to hear over the walkie-talkie at the Orchard as well. “Please, someone help fend off these vermin so we can warm up this Mudsdale and get the Miss back to town!” Jet quickly nodded and ordered his Skarmory to strike some of the invading Vulpixes with a Steel Wing. While the conflict at the Orchard was beginning to cool off, things at the garden were just beginning to heat up!

As before, you are permitted to freely travel from the Oran Orchard to the Rose Garden via horse-drawn carriage in order to help out. If you wish to catch a Pokemon, make sure it is properly weakened first before throwing a Pokeball, but doing so does not use up a battle action!

With the Unovan native Ice-types under control with the first round of attacks, each trainer turned their attention to the newcomers. Clusters of Bergmite and the Alolan form of Sandshrew began to hiss and roar angrily as a response to the a seated at the top of the waterfall. The temperature seemed to be continuing to drop, trainers and Pokemon noticing icicles beginning to form on their hair and fur.

In her newly evolved form, Aster the Mareanie was able to fend off incoming attacks. She set up Baneful Bunker just before a rolled-up Sandshrew rammed into her with Rapid Spin. The Sandshrew spun away, reeling from the poison seeping through its body. Aster took the opportunity to Recover herself while she was still under the protection of her spines, gaining back some health she had lost in her previous battle. She gathered up poison for her next attack, but a remaining Vanillite struck an Astonishing attack on Keith’s Pokemon from her blind spot. Gary’s Akame rushed by, still floating through the air with magnetism. She went after a Vanillish, and Aster tagged along to help. As the Toxapex covered the Pokemon with poison, Akame struck it down from the air with Aerial Ace. Despite being attacked, Vanillish stuck out its tongue Tauntingly. The Pawniard fell for it, unable to use the next attack her trainer instructed. Instead, she charged forward with her sharp Iron Head. The blade on her head buried into Vanillish’s soft body. Vanillish attempted to Harden itself in defense, but ended up getting Akame stuck instead.

The Vanilluxe was still a large threat, looming over the battle field with two laughing heads that were egging on its opponents. Alice directed Millie the Miltank to continue rolling at the large Ice-Type. She had gained a lot of momentum, and smashed into Vanilluxe hard. It turned its two faces to the Normal-Type, and sent super chilled air at the Miltank to try and Freeze Dry her. Milie attacked with Thunderbolt and electricity surged through the Vanilluxe’s body. She noticed as the attack hit that she was unable to move one of her legs, it had been frozen to the ground, limiting her movement. Jayson’s Balerion surrounded himself with flames before wildly throwing himself at the Vanilluxe, melting a path in the snow. The Charmeleon tumbled roughly to the ground on the other side of Vanilluxe, who was screeching in pain from the fire. Balerion, panting heavily, looked at its tail, the fire on it was burning rather low. He continued to be pelted by hail. The Vanilluxe created a Beam of Ice with its two mouths, firing it straight at Balerion and hitting it in the chest. The Charmeleon struggled to get up, but suddenly felt an overwhelming warmth.

The thick clouds in the sky parted slightly, and the sun shone down onto the group at the Waterfall. Rorik’s Charmeleon, Volg held its arms up in the air proudly, praising the power of the sun. The several fire types on the field immediately felt energized, despite the snowstorm continuing to rage. Volg looked to the other of its species on the field, Balerion, who now had enough strength to lock his fiery jaws around the base of Vanilluxe. He let out a Burst of Flame that struck not only Vanilluxe but surrounding Sandshrew that were closing in. The Charmeleon’s flame flickered again, its energy was still rather low despite the boost from the sun. Volg approached a large group of Sandshrew and Bergmite, attacking with a Flame Burst of his own. A few Sandshrew went flying, while the heavier Bergmite were pushed aside. A group of Bergmite huddled together and used Harden creating a shield before blowing Powder Snow toward the Charmeleon.

On the other side of the group of Sandshrew and Bergmite, Happy the Flareon made his way through the crowd. Bergmite attempting to stop him in his tracks were toppled over. They conjured up an Icy Wind to try and heal the cracks in their icy bodies and chased slowly after Happy. The Flareon sent out a Heat Wave to keep them away, leaving several of the Bergmite burnedHappy and Volg meet up to face the two Alolan Sandslash. They each picked the target closest to them. Happy’s fluffy body was surrounded by Flame and he Charged into the Sandslash. The Sandslash Curled up Defensivly and its spikes seemed to become more pointy. Happy unleashed Lava Plume, hurting not only Sandslash, but a couple surrounding Sandshrew. Sandslash uncurled itself, and sent out Metal Burst, which hit Happy hard in response to the brutal fire attacks it had inflicted on Sandslash. Volg bit down on the other Sandslash’s metallic hide with Fire Fang. Sandslash retaliated with Icicle Spear, which struck the Charmeleon three times.

Isaac’s Incineroar Morgana was also making his way through the crowd of Sandshrew. He targeted a particular Sandshrew, whose eyes were wide with fear as the large feline opened its maw. It feared being bitten, or even worse, a Fire attack. Instead, Morgana’s rough tongue scraped over its head. It became rigid with paralysis, unable to move before the Incineroar came down with a Fire Fang, powered up by the bright sun. Nearby Sandshrew scratched at Morgana’s back with Fury Cutter, hoping to take the big cat down.

Following directions, the small Cyndaquil Wildfire turned its attention to the new wave of enemies. The flame on its back brightened, and he unleashed a Wave of Heat that washed over several Sandshrew, causing them to retreat into protective balls. Wildfire curled up into a ball as well, surrounding himself with flames and hitting a row of Sandshrew. When he got to the last Sandshrew, he was stopped by it Rapid Spinning in the opposite direction. It swiped at Wildfire with Metal Claw, and the Cyndaquil retreated back through the group with Rollout, successfully hitting more enemies on his way back to his trainer.

With the majority of the group focusing on the incoming swarm, Lucas and Kong decided to continue their attack on Vanillite. The Slaking raised its large hands and began a slow and somewhat sarcastic clap. Flattered, the Vanillite try to use Hail once more. It doesn’t seem to affect the amount of snow and ice that is already swirling around, though the effects of Sunny Day did not look to be as strong. Still Truant, Kong did not feel like using any kind of Fire attack. An enraged Vanillite smashed into him with Icicle Spear, hitting him twice. Kong grumbled, and punched the Vanillite hard with Reversal. He yawned as the Vanillite spun away.

While the battle continued on, bubbles began to form underneath the ice in the pool of the waterfall. The only one who noticed was Athena, who had been fighting off a crowd of Bergmite with her Clefable. She turned her attention away from her battle to watch cracks begin to form. Ice exploded as jets of water burst into the air, and Athena shielded her face. Riding these jets of water were round, chubby blue Pokemon.
“There’s more of them! The water!” Athena yelled over the sound of rushing water and ice. Dozens of Spheal rolled over the ice and toward the group of Pokemon and trainers. Some launched themselves into the air with Water Gun, and then attacked again from their new height. Two larger Sealeo dragged themselves up onto the ice and slid easily across it. Dazzling light surrounded their mouths, and they sent Aurora Beams into the crowd.
“Selene!” Athena called to her Clefable. “Help everyone else, use Lucky Chant!” The trial captain watched as her Pokemon chanted to whatever forces were watching over this battle, hoping to protect everyone from any critical hits.

Please make sure again to use 1 pokemon and up to 3 moves. If you wish to catch a Pokemon, make sure it is properly weakened first before throwing a Pokeball, but doing so does not use up a battle action!

With the Unovan native Ice-types under control with the first round of attacks, each trainer turned their attention to the newcomers. Clusters of Bergmite and the Alolan form of Sandshrew began to hiss and roar angrily as a response to the a seated at the top of the waterfall. The temperature seemed to be continuing to drop, trainers and Pokemon noticing icicles beginning to form on their hair and fur.

In her newly evolved form, Aster the Mareanie was able to fend off incoming attacks. She set up Baneful Bunker just before a rolled-up Sandshrew rammed into her with Rapid Spin. The Sandshrew spun away, reeling from the poison seeping through its body. Aster took the opportunity to Recover herself while she was still under the protection of her spines, gaining back some health she had lost in her previous battle. She gathered up poison for her next attack, but a remaining Vanillite struck an Astonishing attack on Keith’s Pokemon from her blind spot. Gary’s Akame rushed by, still floating through the air with magnetism. She went after a Vanillish, and Aster tagged along to help. As the Toxapex covered the Pokemon with poison, Akame struck it down from the air with Aerial Ace. Despite being attacked, Vanillish stuck out its tongue Tauntingly. The Pawniard fell for it, unable to use the next attack her trainer instructed. Instead, she charged forward with her sharp Iron Head. The blade on her head buried into Vanillish’s soft body. Vanillish attempted to Harden itself in defense, but ended up getting Akame stuck instead.

The Vanilluxe was still a large threat, looming over the battle field with two laughing heads that were egging on its opponents. Alice directed Millie the Miltank to continue rolling at the large Ice-Type. She had gained a lot of momentum, and smashed into Vanilluxe hard. It turned its two faces to the Normal-Type, and sent super chilled air at the Miltank to try and Freeze Dry her. Milie attacked with Thunderbolt and electricity surged through the Vanilluxe’s body. She noticed as the attack hit that she was unable to move one of her legs, it had been frozen to the ground, limiting her movement. Jayson’s Balerion surrounded himself with flames before wildly throwing himself at the Vanilluxe, melting a path in the snow. The Charmeleon tumbled roughly to the ground on the other side of Vanilluxe, who was screeching in pain from the fire. Balerion, panting heavily, looked at its tail, the fire on it was burning rather low. He continued to be pelted by hail. The Vanilluxe created a Beam of Ice with its two mouths, firing it straight at Balerion and hitting it in the chest. The Charmeleon struggled to get up, but suddenly felt an overwhelming warmth.

The thick clouds in the sky parted slightly, and the sun shone down onto the group at the Waterfall. Rorik’s Charmeleon, Volg held its arms up in the air proudly, praising the power of the sun. The several fire types on the field immediately felt energized, despite the snowstorm continuing to rage. Volg looked to the other of its species on the field, Balerion, who now had enough strength to lock his fiery jaws around the base of Vanilluxe. He let out a Burst of Flame that struck not only Vanilluxe but surrounding Sandshrew that were closing in. The Charmeleon’s flame flickered again, its energy was still rather low despite the boost from the sun. Volg approached a large group of Sandshrew and Bergmite, attacking with a Flame Burst of his own. A few Sandshrew went flying, while the heavier Bergmite were pushed aside. A group of Bergmite huddled together and used Harden creating a shield before blowing Powder Snow toward the Charmeleon.

On the other side of the group of Sandshrew and Bergmite, Happy the Flareon made his way through the crowd. Bergmite attempting to stop him in his tracks were toppled over. They conjured up an Icy Wind to try and heal the cracks in their icy bodies and chased slowly after Happy. The Flareon sent out a Heat Wave to keep them away, leaving several of the Bergmite burnedHappy and Volg meet up to face the two Alolan Sandslash. They each picked the target closest to them. Happy’s fluffy body was surrounded by Flame and he Charged into the Sandslash. The Sandslash Curled up Defensivly and its spikes seemed to become more pointy. Happy unleashed Lava Plume, hurting not only Sandslash, but a couple surrounding Sandshrew. Sandslash uncurled itself, and sent out Metal Burst, which hit Happy hard in response to the brutal fire attacks it had inflicted on Sandslash. Volg bit down on the other Sandslash’s metallic hide with Fire Fang. Sandslash retaliated with Icicle Spear, which struck the Charmeleon three times.

Isaac’s Incineroar Morgana was also making his way through the crowd of Sandshrew. He targeted a particular Sandshrew, whose eyes were wide with fear as the large feline opened its maw. It feared being bitten, or even worse, a Fire attack. Instead, Morgana’s rough tongue scraped over its head. It became rigid with paralysis, unable to move before the Incineroar came down with a Fire Fang, powered up by the bright sun. Nearby Sandshrew scratched at Morgana’s back with Fury Cutter, hoping to take the big cat down.

Following directions, the small Cyndaquil Wildfire turned its attention to the new wave of enemies. The flame on its back brightened, and he unleashed a Wave of Heat that washed over several Sandshrew, causing them to retreat into protective balls. Wildfire curled up into a ball as well, surrounding himself with flames and hitting a row of Sandshrew. When he got to the last Sandshrew, he was stopped by it Rapid Spinning in the opposite direction. It swiped at Wildfire with Metal Claw, and the Cyndaquil retreated back through the group with Rollout, successfully hitting more enemies on his way back to his trainer.

With the majority of the group focusing on the incoming swarm, Lucas and Kong decided to continue their attack on Vanillite. The Slaking raised its large hands and began a slow and somewhat sarcastic clap. Flattered, the Vanillite try to use Hail once more. It doesn’t seem to affect the amount of snow and ice that is already swirling around, though the effects of Sunny Day did not look to be as strong. Still Truant, Kong did not feel like using any kind of Fire attack. An enraged Vanillite smashed into him with Icicle Spear, hitting him twice. Kong grumbled, and punched the Vanillite hard with Reversal. He yawned as the Vanillite spun away.

While the battle continued on, bubbles began to form underneath the ice in the pool of the waterfall. The only one who noticed was Athena, who had been fighting off a crowd of Bergmite with her Clefable. She turned her attention away from her battle to watch cracks begin to form. Ice exploded as jets of water burst into the air, and Athena shielded her face. Riding these jets of water were round, chubby blue Pokemon.
“There’s more of them! The water!” Athena yelled over the sound of rushing water and ice. Dozens of Spheal rolled over the ice and toward the group of Pokemon and trainers. Some launched themselves into the air with Water Gun, and then attacked again from their new height. Two larger Sealeo dragged themselves up onto the ice and slid easily across it. Dazzling light surrounded their mouths, and they sent Aurora Beams into the crowd.
“Selene!” Athena called to her Clefable. “Help everyone else, use Lucky Chant!” The trial captain watched as her Pokemon chanted to whatever forces were watching over this battle, hoping to protect everyone from any critical hits.

Please make sure again to use 1 pokemon and up to 3 moves. If you wish to catch a Pokemon, make sure it is properly weakened first before throwing a Pokeball, but doing so does not use up a battle action!

Enemies continued to flow from every direction, the trainers and their Pokemon did their best to fight them off but it seemed almost endless. Out of the corner of his eye Jayson saw dazzling lights heading straight towards him. He dove into the snow as Spartacus and Thowra scattered, the Scizor and Rapidash were taken by surprise as the Spheal and Sealeo ambushed them. As Jayson pulled himself up out of the snow, he found himself separated and surrounded. Sandshrews were slowly closing in on him and some of the remaining Vanillite were lending hand. He was in real trouble.

Balerion looked back for his trainer, only to find his previous position vacant. He quickly located Thowra and Spartacus, the pair were regrouping as attacks clashed around them. Where was his trainer? The snow made it hard to find him, but then the Charmeleon spotted a group of Pokemon closing in on someone. It was Jayson. His chest heaved, he had been fighting so vigorously and was running out of steam. However, seeing his trainer in imminent danger caused his flame to ignite. It didn't stop there however as the Charmeleon felt his whole body catch fire, his limbs began to swell and stretch as his body was enveloped by a blinding light. Wings sprouted from his back as he undertook his evolution. His neck lengthened and an additional horn sprouted atop his head. As the light faded, Balerion let loose a deafening roar before surging into the air on pitch black wings. Like a dark shadow he swept across the snow, scooping up his trainer in an effortless motion.

Balerion evolved into Charizard!

Jayson couldn't believe his eyes as the newly evolved Balerion came to his rescue. The shining black Charizard was magnificent, like nothing he had ever seen. Balerion landed next to Spartacus and Thowra, the pair were now a safe distance from the chaos. As Jayson reassessed their surroundings, he decided it was probably best for the newly evolved Charizard to take a break. "Excellent work Balerion, I'm incredibly proud of you!" Jayson spotted Gary's Pawniard in a rather tough situation. He would lend his friend aid. "Spartacus it seems your help is needed now. Rush that Vanillish with the Pawniard stuck to it and break the Dark type free with a Bullet Punch. Then how about we finish that Vanilluxe? Give it a Metal Claw to think about before going in for the final blow with a Shadow Break!."

With the Unovan native Ice-types under control with the first round of attacks, each trainer turned their attention to the newcomers. Clusters of Bergmite and the Alolan form of Sandshrew began to hiss and roar angrily as a response to the a seated at the top of the waterfall. The temperature seemed to be continuing to drop, trainers and Pokemon noticing icicles beginning to form on their hair and fur.

In her newly evolved form, Aster the Mareanie was able to fend off incoming attacks. She set up Baneful Bunker just before a rolled-up Sandshrew rammed into her with Rapid Spin. The Sandshrew spun away, reeling from the poison seeping through its body. Aster took the opportunity to Recover herself while she was still under the protection of her spines, gaining back some health she had lost in her previous battle. She gathered up poison for her next attack, but a remaining Vanillite struck an Astonishing attack on Keith’s Pokemon from her blind spot. Gary’s Akame rushed by, still floating through the air with magnetism. She went after a Vanillish, and Aster tagged along to help. As the Toxapex covered the Pokemon with poison, Akame struck it down from the air with Aerial Ace. Despite being attacked, Vanillish stuck out its tongue Tauntingly. The Pawniard fell for it, unable to use the next attack her trainer instructed. Instead, she charged forward with her sharp Iron Head. The blade on her head buried into Vanillish’s soft body. Vanillish attempted to Harden itself in defense, but ended up getting Akame stuck instead.

The Vanilluxe was still a large threat, looming over the battle field with two laughing heads that were egging on its opponents. Alice directed Millie the Miltank to continue rolling at the large Ice-Type. She had gained a lot of momentum, and smashed into Vanilluxe hard. It turned its two faces to the Normal-Type, and sent super chilled air at the Miltank to try and Freeze Dry her. Milie attacked with Thunderbolt and electricity surged through the Vanilluxe’s body. She noticed as the attack hit that she was unable to move one of her legs, it had been frozen to the ground, limiting her movement. Jayson’s Balerion surrounded himself with flames before wildly throwing himself at the Vanilluxe, melting a path in the snow. The Charmeleon tumbled roughly to the ground on the other side of Vanilluxe, who was screeching in pain from the fire. Balerion, panting heavily, looked at its tail, the fire on it was burning rather low. He continued to be pelted by hail. The Vanilluxe created a Beam of Ice with its two mouths, firing it straight at Balerion and hitting it in the chest. The Charmeleon struggled to get up, but suddenly felt an overwhelming warmth.

The thick clouds in the sky parted slightly, and the sun shone down onto the group at the Waterfall. Rorik’s Charmeleon, Volg held its arms up in the air proudly, praising the power of the sun. The several fire types on the field immediately felt energized, despite the snowstorm continuing to rage. Volg looked to the other of its species on the field, Balerion, who now had enough strength to lock his fiery jaws around the base of Vanilluxe. He let out a Burst of Flame that struck not only Vanilluxe but surrounding Sandshrew that were closing in. The Charmeleon’s flame flickered again, its energy was still rather low despite the boost from the sun. Volg approached a large group of Sandshrew and Bergmite, attacking with a Flame Burst of his own. A few Sandshrew went flying, while the heavier Bergmite were pushed aside. A group of Bergmite huddled together and used Harden creating a shield before blowing Powder Snow toward the Charmeleon.

On the other side of the group of Sandshrew and Bergmite, Happy the Flareon made his way through the crowd. Bergmite attempting to stop him in his tracks were toppled over. They conjured up an Icy Wind to try and heal the cracks in their icy bodies and chased slowly after Happy. The Flareon sent out a Heat Wave to keep them away, leaving several of the Bergmite burnedHappy and Volg meet up to face the two Alolan Sandslash. They each picked the target closest to them. Happy’s fluffy body was surrounded by Flame and he Charged into the Sandslash. The Sandslash Curled up Defensivly and its spikes seemed to become more pointy. Happy unleashed Lava Plume, hurting not only Sandslash, but a couple surrounding Sandshrew. Sandslash uncurled itself, and sent out Metal Burst, which hit Happy hard in response to the brutal fire attacks it had inflicted on Sandslash. Volg bit down on the other Sandslash’s metallic hide with Fire Fang. Sandslash retaliated with Icicle Spear, which struck the Charmeleon three times.

Isaac’s Incineroar Morgana was also making his way through the crowd of Sandshrew. He targeted a particular Sandshrew, whose eyes were wide with fear as the large feline opened its maw. It feared being bitten, or even worse, a Fire attack. Instead, Morgana’s rough tongue scraped over its head. It became rigid with paralysis, unable to move before the Incineroar came down with a Fire Fang, powered up by the bright sun. Nearby Sandshrew scratched at Morgana’s back with Fury Cutter, hoping to take the big cat down.

Following directions, the small Cyndaquil Wildfire turned its attention to the new wave of enemies. The flame on its back brightened, and he unleashed a Wave of Heat that washed over several Sandshrew, causing them to retreat into protective balls. Wildfire curled up into a ball as well, surrounding himself with flames and hitting a row of Sandshrew. When he got to the last Sandshrew, he was stopped by it Rapid Spinning in the opposite direction. It swiped at Wildfire with Metal Claw, and the Cyndaquil retreated back through the group with Rollout, successfully hitting more enemies on his way back to his trainer.

With the majority of the group focusing on the incoming swarm, Lucas and Kong decided to continue their attack on Vanillite. The Slaking raised its large hands and began a slow and somewhat sarcastic clap. Flattered, the Vanillite try to use Hail once more. It doesn’t seem to affect the amount of snow and ice that is already swirling around, though the effects of Sunny Day did not look to be as strong. Still Truant, Kong did not feel like using any kind of Fire attack. An enraged Vanillite smashed into him with Icicle Spear, hitting him twice. Kong grumbled, and punched the Vanillite hard with Reversal. He yawned as the Vanillite spun away.

While the battle continued on, bubbles began to form underneath the ice in the pool of the waterfall. The only one who noticed was Athena, who had been fighting off a crowd of Bergmite with her Clefable. She turned her attention away from her battle to watch cracks begin to form. Ice exploded as jets of water burst into the air, and Athena shielded her face. Riding these jets of water were round, chubby blue Pokemon.
“There’s more of them! The water!” Athena yelled over the sound of rushing water and ice. Dozens of Spheal rolled over the ice and toward the group of Pokemon and trainers. Some launched themselves into the air with Water Gun, and then attacked again from their new height. Two larger Sealeo dragged themselves up onto the ice and slid easily across it. Dazzling light surrounded their mouths, and they sent Aurora Beams into the crowd.
“Selene!” Athena called to her Clefable. “Help everyone else, use Lucky Chant!” The trial captain watched as her Pokemon chanted to whatever forces were watching over this battle, hoping to protect everyone from any critical hits.

Please make sure again to use 1 pokemon and up to 3 moves. If you wish to catch a Pokemon, make sure it is properly weakened first before throwing a Pokeball, but doing so does not use up a battle action!

The battle rages on, and mercifully Volg's Sunny Day proved to be just the boon that Rorik had hoped. The many Fire attacks being hurled at the attackers benefited from the rays of sun, so much so that things actually seemed to be going their way... briefly. Very briefly.

The ice cream regiment seemed to be under control, and the team was handling the Sandshrew and Bergmite horde fairly well - but then, just as they seemed to be getting the hang of things, a third phalanx marched... well, rolled, on the scene!

"Spheal and Sealeo... this throws a wrench in the works."

Ice per se, they could handle, as long as they had fire. But these Pokemon were also part Water, and that was a problem for several of the combatants... and now Rorik was faced with a choice.

Stahl and Guntz both have access to electricity and grass, and could even use their Bloom Doom Z-Move to deal with these new enemies. But Volg...

He stared at his Charmeleon, whose eyes were in turn locked on Balerion, Jayson's own fire drake; the battle against Vanilluxe had unlocked his hidden potential and, much to Volg's envy and frustration, the Fire-Type triggered his evolution into a massive, terrifying black Charizard. Volg growled, then shifted his attention to the Sandslash, boiling with rage over having been trumped by Balerion; he'd already pierced a whole in the wall of Sandshrew, so he could dedicate his undivided attention to breaking the general apart limb by limb. He might not be as strong as Jayson's Pokemon, but he could shorten the gap in strength by destroying his opponent.

I can't recall him now. It'd be an insult, and he wouldn't listen anyway. Baimon or not, when Volg gets that look in his eye, he's going to go all the way no matter what. He won't relent until that Sandslashstops moving, or he does...

It wasn't the best tactical decision, what with Water-Types joining the fray and an army of Sandshrew and Bergmite surrounding the leader he was trying to take down. But unlike the ever-obedient Stahl, Volg had a tenacity and a stubbornness all of his own, and Rorik knew strategy would have to be put on hold for now. The Charmeleon felt he had something to prove, and no amount of pleading would make him change his mind. And with that, all Rorik could do was encourage his partner to see it through to the end.

No... No, there is one more thing I can do!

No matter how ruthlessly Volg attempted to crush the Sandslash leader, it was always a possibility that he would be overwhelmed by the forces that surrounded him. Sure, he had the aid of Wildfire and Happy, but a blow from behind could be devastating and make him vulnerable to an icy onslaught. It was bad enough as it was that he was already being pelted with Powder Snow, Icicle Spears and Aurora Beams from every direction... Thankfully none of the hits seemed to inflict critical damage, thanks to the group leader's use of Lucky Chant.

If Rorik could find a way to make the enemy numbers dwindle, however insignificantly, he could still say he did something more than cheer from the sidelines. Besides, the specimens had peaked his curiosity for their unusual flexibility... He hadn't done it in a very long time, but if he could capture one of those Sandshrew, maybe he could dedicate some of his time to studying its strange properties, just like in the old days back when he was starting out in the field of research...

He picked the only empty Ball in his belt, a black and orange one, and tossed it as hard as he could at one of the Sandshrew that had been blasted with Flame Burst and Heat Wave. If he was successful, that would be one less foe for Volg to worry about!

The Charmeleon, meanwhile, continued his relentless assault on Sandslash, growing more and more furious each time he was struck by an Icicle Spear. He attempted to increase his agility with a Dragon Dance, then strike back with Fire Fang. And once the proper opening appeared - and it would, sooner or later! -, he would finish the damn creature with a point-blank Fire Blast!

He hoped his rays of sun would last, but even without them, he would crush his enemy! He had to, and Balerion would be forced to recognize him as his equal!!

"Hyrem, wasn't it?" Rorik said shyly as he approached the owner of the Flareon battling the other Sandslash. "If you need assistance, I do have some spare Potions! If your Flareon's enemy is as tough as my Charmeleon's opponent, I have a feeling both are going to need it. Hum, i-if you don't mind me intruding, that is!"

------

OoC: Tossing a Luxury Ball (1/3) at one of the male Alolan Sandshrew that I scanned in the previous reply! Here goes nothing!

Just as things began to heat up in the battle against the Sneasels and Weavile at Oran Orchard, a new conflict arose at the nearby Rose Garden, where an army of Swinub had overtaken the plants. About half of the trainers battling at the Orchard split off with Jet to tackle the new foes, leaving the Samuel and the remainder behind to finish things up with Weavile and its gang.

~~~~~~~

The Sneasels’ numbers had been thinned out considerably, and Weavile had taken quite the beating as well. Through deep breaths, Weavile barked at one of its underlings to fetch it a berry in order to recover. A Sneasel promptly did so, running off to a berry tree to retrieve a plump Oran Berry, and brought it back to its boss. Weavile quickly snatched it out of the Sneasel’s hands and opened its mouth wide to take a bite.

A stream of fire suddenly burst from Louise the Mawile’s big toothy horn, causing a number of small fireballs to pepper the Weavile and Incinerate the berry it was holding in the process. Weavile Screeched again angrily, furious that it was unable to heal up, and charged forward. It dug its Metal Claws into Louise’s skin for moderate damage, causing her to yelp in pain. Caeda the Skarmory came to the Mawile’s aid, swooping in to head-butt the Weavile with an Iron Head. As Weavile staggered backwards in pain, it blew forth an Icy Wind that chilled Caeda to the bone.

Circling back around, Caeda slowed down to time her next strike with Louise, who stood by on Weavile’s other side. Caeda swooped in for a second Iron Head precisely as Louise swung her giant horn around to strike Weavile with an Iron Head as well. Weavile wobbled in place, shaken by the simultaneous super effective hits, allowing Belial the Houndoom to charge up and blast it with a powerful Inferno. As the pillar of flame sizzled out, a very scorched Weavile remained, still standing and still quite angry. “Damn, this guy just won’t go down quietly!” Samuel called out as he observed the battle.

Weavile hissed and leapt forward, enacting its Revenge on the Houndoom by punching him with all its might. However, the strike was mitigated a little by the burns on Weavile’s body restricting some of its movements. Weavile hissed again, calling for five of its cronies to launch an attempt to Beat Up Louise, but the attempt was thwarted by Caeda’s Rock Slide flinging an array of rocks across the battlefield, scattering the Sneasels in the process.

Seizing the opportunity, Lune the Eevee darted forward, pinning a weakened Sneasel with a Quick Attack before jumping back to blast it with a Swift from a distance. Sneasel quickly got up and closed the gap with a Quick Attack of its own, hitting Lune just as she released a second wave of Swift stars to put the Sneasel down for good.

With Weavile standing on its last legs, it was promptly surrounded by Louise the Mawile and Belial the Houndoom. Weavile got into a fighting stance, ready to go, but was a step slow as Louise began to Play Roughly with it. Belial turned around and with a swift whack from his spiked Iron Tail, Weavile fell face first into the snow, defeated. Samuel and the farmers cheered triumphantly, “Woo hoo! Great work guys!”

As their boss fell, many of the Sneasels took notice and began to scatter. Belial let out a triumphant Roar, howling loudly to scare off even more of the intruders. Only a few of the bravest and hungriest Sneasels remained, weakened but still ready to stand their ground. “We’ll take it from here, guys,” Samuel called out, motioning to the remaining Mudsdale-drawn carriage. “You’re welcome to stay and fight off the stragglers, but the Rose Garden might need your help too.” Ringo, the youngest daughter of the Applewood family emerged from the house to hand the trainers each a warm cup of apple cider and an Oran Berry as thanks to Louise, Belial, Caeda, and Lune. “Thank you very much,” she smiled, twirling one of her braided pigtails in her hand.

~~~~~~~

Things at the Rose Garden were not looking as optimistic as the Oran Orchard. The young heiress and newly-appointed trial captain of the garden was battling borderline hypothermia and needed to be escorted to safety in a hurry. A number of the trainers defending the town and its outskirts had arrived after hearing the distress call over the intercom and prepared their Pokemon for battle.

Having visited the Rose Garden a number of times before as well as being participants of Primrose’s summer event just a few months ago, Alex and Jess were especially sympathetic to the girl’s condition and sent out Pokemon to help her out. Seeing as a sea of brown Swinub blocked their path, Epona the Ponyta and Isaac the Alolan Marowak readied themselves to secure a route to the exit where the carriage awaited them.

As the Ponyta nuzzled her gently and the Marowak stood by as her guard, Primrose smiled wearily. “You are both wonderful creatures,” she cooed with her eyes barely open, basking in their warmth. Gently wrapping her arms around Epona’s neck, Primrose rubbed the warm flames on Epona’s mane as the Ponyta controlled them enough to not burn her. As she was too weak to properly sit up on the Ponyta’s back, she settled for clinging to her like a crutch for now while Musharna supported her from the other side. With endless Swinub blocking the path to the exit, Epona blew forth a Fire Spin to scorch a few of the pigs and move them out of the way.

However, this served to not only put them on notice, but turned their attention towards the Ponyta as well. A few of them lunged forward to Tackle their aggressor, but Isaac fended them off with a Flame Wheel, engulfing his body in flames and intercepting the Swinub. Epona then spat a ball of gooey, Chocolatey Magic that trapped a few more of the Swinub in place. Isaac took advantage of the easy targets, whacking them with a Shadow Bone to knock them out. A few of the Swinub reinforcements saw the teamwork the two fire Pokemon displayed and opted to launch their next assault from afar. Isaac countered a quick Powder Snow by melting it with a Flamethrower, while Epona pulled up a Fire Shield to defend both herself and Primrose from an incoming Mud Bomb.

As the horde of angry Swinub was alerted to the small group trying to exit the garden, they began to swarm in to approach them. In order to hold off the assailants, a number of other trainers’ Pokemon joined the fray. Silver the Squirtle blew forth an array of Bubbles to weaken a number of the ground types, following it up with a more concentrated Bubble on a particular Swinub, attempting to finish it off with a super effective Water Gun. However, Swinub Endured the hit and retaliated with a Mud Slap, splashing mud right in the Squirtle’s eyes.

Princess the Stufful faced off against a Swinub, the small board charging forward to Tackle her. However, Princess softened the blow by flashing her Baby-Doll Eyes at it cutely. As the Swinub bounced off her soft, plush fur, it appeared to be infatuated by her Cute Charm. Princess smirked mischievously and flailed about wildly, hitting the Swinub with a Brutal Swing. Before Swinub could even react, aghast that his beloved opponent could hit him, Princess Swung her arms Brutally and hit him again. Now thinking that she was playing hard to get, Swinub went in for another light Tackle, not wanting to hurt her too much.

Meanwhile, Big pulled out his Pokedex and eagerly scanned the group of Swinub for a female one in particular. While it is easier to tell the difference between the evolve Piloswine due to the size of their tusks, the device was able to notice a slight difference in fur length on the Swinub. Once he spotted the female Swinub he was seeking, he pointed it out to Hotstuff, who was healed up and ready to go. The Charmander charged forward and grappled her with a Seismic Toss, pulling her over his back and slamming her down with a suplex. Swinub quickly got up and oinked defiantly, Slapping a hoof full of Mud in Hotstuff’s eyes. The Charmander groaned and blew a Flamethrower in the pig’s direction before following it up with a punch using all of his Strength. Unfortunately, the punch missed its target with his vision obscured, allowing Swinub to sidestep it and ram Hotstuff with a Tackle. Swinub was fairly weakened at this point, but still able to battle.

Last but not least, Monte the Scraggy found himself amongst a mob of Swinub. He attempted to gain their attention by spraying a Sand Attack across them. The attack had little effect however, as the young boars had poor eyesight to begin with and relied mostly on smell. He had their attention now though, as they began Sleuthing the Scraggy’s Odor to locate him. Monte picked out an opponent in the group and fired off a Dark Pulse at his target, knocking it back. The Swinub retaliated by blowing a chilling Powder Snow in Monte’s direction, chilling him quite a bit. Monte rushed in and Punched his opponent while Draining its energy in the process.

~~~~~~~

As the trainers and their Pokemon battled the Swinub throughout the Rose Garden, they made some headway on thinning out the swine’s numbers. As Epona and Isaac arrived at the entrance of the garden, Poppy rushed over with a rake in his hands to keep the pigs at bay. However, as they approached the Mudsdale-drawn carriage, they realized something was wrong. Like Primrose, the Mudsdale was looking a bit frost-bitten and too upset to move. Standing in its way was a group of small icy foxes. More and more of them seemed to appear out of the snow and pushed their way into the garden. Not only was the garden under attack by Swinub, but now Vulpixes of the Alolan variety as well.

“What now? Icy Vulpixes?!” Poppy cried out, his voice being audible for those to hear over the walkie-talkie at the Orchard as well. “Please, someone help fend off these vermin so we can warm up this Mudsdale and get the Miss back to town!” Jet quickly nodded and ordered his Skarmory to strike some of the invading Vulpixes with a Steel Wing. While the conflict at the Orchard was beginning to cool off, things at the garden were just beginning to heat up!

As before, you are permitted to freely travel from the Oran Orchard to the Rose Garden via horse-drawn carriage in order to help out. If you wish to catch a Pokemon, make sure it is properly weakened first before throwing a Pokeball, but doing so does not use up a battle action!

Liawe felt a surge of pride as she watched her Skarmory working in unison with all these other Pokemon, eventually sending the main Weavile tumbling, from which it didn't rise. Her first battle in unfamiliar territories, and she was coming out of it quite well. Caeda flew back to her trainer somewhat wearily, gratefully accepting the Oran Berry she was offered by the staff as she devoured it. Hopefully that and a short break would keep her going. Alas, there was no rest for the wicked, as there was another call of help from the garden. Alolan Vulpixes. Quickly, Liawe hopped aboard the cart to the new lands, returning Caeda to her Pokeball.

Arriving at the orchard, Liawe took stock of the bleak situation. The Mudsdale was trying to get a child to safety, but the Vulpix horde was trapping it. This called for desperate measures, Liawe realised, as she loosed Hope from her Pokeball. The Shuppet cackled gleefully, seeing the field of potential victims, before diving into the fray. "OK Hope, try leading with a Shock Wave into an Ominous Wind, see if that's enough to pull them from the Mudsdale. Then follow up with another Ominous Wind, we need to clear a path!" The Shuppet cackled as she set about her orders, the little psychopathic spectre taking a macabre delight from the pain she was set to inflict upon these unknowing foxes. Liawe almost felt bad for them. But, she reaffirmed to herself, the child had to get to warmth. And while she had no real way of getting warmth to the child, she could certainly try and clear a path.

Just as things began to heat up in the battle against the Sneasels and Weavile at Oran Orchard, a new conflict arose at the nearby Rose Garden, where an army of Swinub had overtaken the plants. About half of the trainers battling at the Orchard split off with Jet to tackle the new foes, leaving the Samuel and the remainder behind to finish things up with Weavile and its gang.

~~~~~~~

The Sneasels’ numbers had been thinned out considerably, and Weavile had taken quite the beating as well. Through deep breaths, Weavile barked at one of its underlings to fetch it a berry in order to recover. A Sneasel promptly did so, running off to a berry tree to retrieve a plump Oran Berry, and brought it back to its boss. Weavile quickly snatched it out of the Sneasel’s hands and opened its mouth wide to take a bite.

A stream of fire suddenly burst from Louise the Mawile’s big toothy horn, causing a number of small fireballs to pepper the Weavile and Incinerate the berry it was holding in the process. Weavile Screeched again angrily, furious that it was unable to heal up, and charged forward. It dug its Metal Claws into Louise’s skin for moderate damage, causing her to yelp in pain. Caeda the Skarmory came to the Mawile’s aid, swooping in to head-butt the Weavile with an Iron Head. As Weavile staggered backwards in pain, it blew forth an Icy Wind that chilled Caeda to the bone.

Circling back around, Caeda slowed down to time her next strike with Louise, who stood by on Weavile’s other side. Caeda swooped in for a second Iron Head precisely as Louise swung her giant horn around to strike Weavile with an Iron Head as well. Weavile wobbled in place, shaken by the simultaneous super effective hits, allowing Belial the Houndoom to charge up and blast it with a powerful Inferno. As the pillar of flame sizzled out, a very scorched Weavile remained, still standing and still quite angry. “Damn, this guy just won’t go down quietly!” Samuel called out as he observed the battle.

Weavile hissed and leapt forward, enacting its Revenge on the Houndoom by punching him with all its might. However, the strike was mitigated a little by the burns on Weavile’s body restricting some of its movements. Weavile hissed again, calling for five of its cronies to launch an attempt to Beat Up Louise, but the attempt was thwarted by Caeda’s Rock Slide flinging an array of rocks across the battlefield, scattering the Sneasels in the process.

Seizing the opportunity, Lune the Eevee darted forward, pinning a weakened Sneasel with a Quick Attack before jumping back to blast it with a Swift from a distance. Sneasel quickly got up and closed the gap with a Quick Attack of its own, hitting Lune just as she released a second wave of Swift stars to put the Sneasel down for good.

With Weavile standing on its last legs, it was promptly surrounded by Louise the Mawile and Belial the Houndoom. Weavile got into a fighting stance, ready to go, but was a step slow as Louise began to Play Roughly with it. Belial turned around and with a swift whack from his spiked Iron Tail, Weavile fell face first into the snow, defeated. Samuel and the farmers cheered triumphantly, “Woo hoo! Great work guys!”

As their boss fell, many of the Sneasels took notice and began to scatter. Belial let out a triumphant Roar, howling loudly to scare off even more of the intruders. Only a few of the bravest and hungriest Sneasels remained, weakened but still ready to stand their ground. “We’ll take it from here, guys,” Samuel called out, motioning to the remaining Mudsdale-drawn carriage. “You’re welcome to stay and fight off the stragglers, but the Rose Garden might need your help too.” Ringo, the youngest daughter of the Applewood family emerged from the house to hand the trainers each a warm cup of apple cider and an Oran Berry as thanks to Louise, Belial, Caeda, and Lune. “Thank you very much,” she smiled, twirling one of her braided pigtails in her hand.

~~~~~~~

Things at the Rose Garden were not looking as optimistic as the Oran Orchard. The young heiress and newly-appointed trial captain of the garden was battling borderline hypothermia and needed to be escorted to safety in a hurry. A number of the trainers defending the town and its outskirts had arrived after hearing the distress call over the intercom and prepared their Pokemon for battle.

Having visited the Rose Garden a number of times before as well as being participants of Primrose’s summer event just a few months ago, Alex and Jess were especially sympathetic to the girl’s condition and sent out Pokemon to help her out. Seeing as a sea of brown Swinub blocked their path, Epona the Ponyta and Isaac the Alolan Marowak readied themselves to secure a route to the exit where the carriage awaited them.

As the Ponyta nuzzled her gently and the Marowak stood by as her guard, Primrose smiled wearily. “You are both wonderful creatures,” she cooed with her eyes barely open, basking in their warmth. Gently wrapping her arms around Epona’s neck, Primrose rubbed the warm flames on Epona’s mane as the Ponyta controlled them enough to not burn her. As she was too weak to properly sit up on the Ponyta’s back, she settled for clinging to her like a crutch for now while Musharna supported her from the other side. With endless Swinub blocking the path to the exit, Epona blew forth a Fire Spin to scorch a few of the pigs and move them out of the way.

However, this served to not only put them on notice, but turned their attention towards the Ponyta as well. A few of them lunged forward to Tackle their aggressor, but Isaac fended them off with a Flame Wheel, engulfing his body in flames and intercepting the Swinub. Epona then spat a ball of gooey, Chocolatey Magic that trapped a few more of the Swinub in place. Isaac took advantage of the easy targets, whacking them with a Shadow Bone to knock them out. A few of the Swinub reinforcements saw the teamwork the two fire Pokemon displayed and opted to launch their next assault from afar. Isaac countered a quick Powder Snow by melting it with a Flamethrower, while Epona pulled up a Fire Shield to defend both herself and Primrose from an incoming Mud Bomb.

As the horde of angry Swinub was alerted to the small group trying to exit the garden, they began to swarm in to approach them. In order to hold off the assailants, a number of other trainers’ Pokemon joined the fray. Silver the Squirtle blew forth an array of Bubbles to weaken a number of the ground types, following it up with a more concentrated Bubble on a particular Swinub, attempting to finish it off with a super effective Water Gun. However, Swinub Endured the hit and retaliated with a Mud Slap, splashing mud right in the Squirtle’s eyes.

Princess the Stufful faced off against a Swinub, the small board charging forward to Tackle her. However, Princess softened the blow by flashing her Baby-Doll Eyes at it cutely. As the Swinub bounced off her soft, plush fur, it appeared to be infatuated by her Cute Charm. Princess smirked mischievously and flailed about wildly, hitting the Swinub with a Brutal Swing. Before Swinub could even react, aghast that his beloved opponent could hit him, Princess Swung her arms Brutally and hit him again. Now thinking that she was playing hard to get, Swinub went in for another light Tackle, not wanting to hurt her too much.

Meanwhile, Big pulled out his Pokedex and eagerly scanned the group of Swinub for a female one in particular. While it is easier to tell the difference between the evolve Piloswine due to the size of their tusks, the device was able to notice a slight difference in fur length on the Swinub. Once he spotted the female Swinub he was seeking, he pointed it out to Hotstuff, who was healed up and ready to go. The Charmander charged forward and grappled her with a Seismic Toss, pulling her over his back and slamming her down with a suplex. Swinub quickly got up and oinked defiantly, Slapping a hoof full of Mud in Hotstuff’s eyes. The Charmander groaned and blew a Flamethrower in the pig’s direction before following it up with a punch using all of his Strength. Unfortunately, the punch missed its target with his vision obscured, allowing Swinub to sidestep it and ram Hotstuff with a Tackle. Swinub was fairly weakened at this point, but still able to battle.

Last but not least, Monte the Scraggy found himself amongst a mob of Swinub. He attempted to gain their attention by spraying a Sand Attack across them. The attack had little effect however, as the young boars had poor eyesight to begin with and relied mostly on smell. He had their attention now though, as they began Sleuthing the Scraggy’s Odor to locate him. Monte picked out an opponent in the group and fired off a Dark Pulse at his target, knocking it back. The Swinub retaliated by blowing a chilling Powder Snow in Monte’s direction, chilling him quite a bit. Monte rushed in and Punched his opponent while Draining its energy in the process.

~~~~~~~

As the trainers and their Pokemon battled the Swinub throughout the Rose Garden, they made some headway on thinning out the swine’s numbers. As Epona and Isaac arrived at the entrance of the garden, Poppy rushed over with a rake in his hands to keep the pigs at bay. However, as they approached the Mudsdale-drawn carriage, they realized something was wrong. Like Primrose, the Mudsdale was looking a bit frost-bitten and too upset to move. Standing in its way was a group of small icy foxes. More and more of them seemed to appear out of the snow and pushed their way into the garden. Not only was the garden under attack by Swinub, but now Vulpixes of the Alolan variety as well.

“What now? Icy Vulpixes?!” Poppy cried out, his voice being audible for those to hear over the walkie-talkie at the Orchard as well. “Please, someone help fend off these vermin so we can warm up this Mudsdale and get the Miss back to town!” Jet quickly nodded and ordered his Skarmory to strike some of the invading Vulpixes with a Steel Wing. While the conflict at the Orchard was beginning to cool off, things at the garden were just beginning to heat up!

As before, you are permitted to freely travel from the Oran Orchard to the Rose Garden via horse-drawn carriage in order to help out. If you wish to catch a Pokemon, make sure it is properly weakened first before throwing a Pokeball, but doing so does not use up a battle action!

"Sweet, sweet victory!" Mélina cheered. She found Lune did an excellent job taking care of that Sneasel, especially from hitting it with a point blank Swift. The Eevee jumped in her arms, despite being extra tired from all those hits she received. After all, it was her first win in battle. "Yeah, that's a good girl," the trainer cooed as she combed her hands through the Evolution Pokémon's fur.

Although there was still some leftover Sneasel, the fight was pretty much considered over, as the Weavile leader was knocked out and many of its minions fled, to the point that Samuel and the farmers would easily take care of the rest on their own. Even the youngest of them had the time to grab some Oran berries and make some apple cider as thanks for the help. After putting away a berry in her bag then sharing her nice warm drink to her hardworking Eevee, Mélina called Lune back to her Pokéball for some well-deserving rest. As things seemed to be in control here, the woman figured it would be best to move on to the Rose Garden. At first, she only had a feeling those who went there are a bit overwhelmed at the moment, being only half of the whole team… but their difficulties were confirmed as she learned via Samuel's walkie-talkie that ice Vulpix arrived to the scene too, stopping people (including a certain “miss”) returning to town. So she climbed into the Mudsdale sled, waited for possible other trainers to hop in along with her, and finally going off joining the other group.

~~~~~~~~~~~

As she set foot at the garden, what she observed was a bit unexpected: sure, there was indeed the swarm of Swinub and Vulpix, but they were more aggressive than Mélina imagined, as a young gardener, despite being well covered, looked quite cold… perhaps close to go into hypothermia. Seems like the plan was to bring her to town, but their Mudsdale looked frozen into place, and surrounded the mentioned ice foxes. Mélina had to muster her best not to squee over how adorable they are, despite being the enemy at hand… but she got an idea that will both help the situation and satisfy her cuteness overload.

“Rise and shine, Soleil!” She called as she threw a Pokéball, revealing the trainer's second Eevee.

“'vee,” the Pokémon calmly barked while sitting down and assessing the situation she got summoned into.

“Ok, your sister did a great job earlier, so your it's your turn now! What I want you to do needs a bit of finesse though, which is why I chose you! Now, I'm going to give you your orders in advance, but do them only on my signal, alright?”

“Evee.” she nodded, understanding the plan.

“Cool! Ok, as soon as I point out a particular Vulpix, try to get it by surprise with a Swift, then follow through by closing in with a Quick Attack! And while you're up close and personal, take a Bite while you're at it! All that said though, be careful with the strength of your attacks… do hit hard, but try to keep it at least conscious, because...” with a smile on her face, she zipped open her Pokéball pouch of her backpack and pulls out her Pokédex, “I plan to catch it.”

“Ee-vee!” Soleil nodded again.

Mélina then started to scan all the Vulpix present, and as soon as it detect an unsuspected female one… she dramatically pointed at her.

With the Unovan native Ice-types under control with the first round of attacks, each trainer turned their attention to the newcomers. Clusters of Bergmite and the Alolan form of Sandshrew began to hiss and roar angrily as a response to the a seated at the top of the waterfall. The temperature seemed to be continuing to drop, trainers and Pokemon noticing icicles beginning to form on their hair and fur.

In her newly evolved form, Aster the Mareanie was able to fend off incoming attacks. She set up Baneful Bunker just before a rolled-up Sandshrew rammed into her with Rapid Spin. The Sandshrew spun away, reeling from the poison seeping through its body. Aster took the opportunity to Recover herself while she was still under the protection of her spines, gaining back some health she had lost in her previous battle. She gathered up poison for her next attack, but a remaining Vanillite struck an Astonishing attack on Keith’s Pokemon from her blind spot. Gary’s Akame rushed by, still floating through the air with magnetism. She went after a Vanillish, and Aster tagged along to help. As the Toxapex covered the Pokemon with poison, Akame struck it down from the air with Aerial Ace. Despite being attacked, Vanillish stuck out its tongue Tauntingly. The Pawniard fell for it, unable to use the next attack her trainer instructed. Instead, she charged forward with her sharp Iron Head. The blade on her head buried into Vanillish’s soft body. Vanillish attempted to Harden itself in defense, but ended up getting Akame stuck instead.

The Vanilluxe was still a large threat, looming over the battle field with two laughing heads that were egging on its opponents. Alice directed Millie the Miltank to continue rolling at the large Ice-Type. She had gained a lot of momentum, and smashed into Vanilluxe hard. It turned its two faces to the Normal-Type, and sent super chilled air at the Miltank to try and Freeze Dry her. Milie attacked with Thunderbolt and electricity surged through the Vanilluxe’s body. She noticed as the attack hit that she was unable to move one of her legs, it had been frozen to the ground, limiting her movement. Jayson’s Balerion surrounded himself with flames before wildly throwing himself at the Vanilluxe, melting a path in the snow. The Charmeleon tumbled roughly to the ground on the other side of Vanilluxe, who was screeching in pain from the fire. Balerion, panting heavily, looked at its tail, the fire on it was burning rather low. He continued to be pelted by hail. The Vanilluxe created a Beam of Ice with its two mouths, firing it straight at Balerion and hitting it in the chest. The Charmeleon struggled to get up, but suddenly felt an overwhelming warmth.

The thick clouds in the sky parted slightly, and the sun shone down onto the group at the Waterfall. Rorik’s Charmeleon, Volg held its arms up in the air proudly, praising the power of the sun. The several fire types on the field immediately felt energized, despite the snowstorm continuing to rage. Volg looked to the other of its species on the field, Balerion, who now had enough strength to lock his fiery jaws around the base of Vanilluxe. He let out a Burst of Flame that struck not only Vanilluxe but surrounding Sandshrew that were closing in. The Charmeleon’s flame flickered again, its energy was still rather low despite the boost from the sun. Volg approached a large group of Sandshrew and Bergmite, attacking with a Flame Burst of his own. A few Sandshrew went flying, while the heavier Bergmite were pushed aside. A group of Bergmite huddled together and used Harden creating a shield before blowing Powder Snow toward the Charmeleon.

On the other side of the group of Sandshrew and Bergmite, Happy the Flareon made his way through the crowd. Bergmite attempting to stop him in his tracks were toppled over. They conjured up an Icy Wind to try and heal the cracks in their icy bodies and chased slowly after Happy. The Flareon sent out a Heat Wave to keep them away, leaving several of the Bergmite burnedHappy and Volg meet up to face the two Alolan Sandslash. They each picked the target closest to them. Happy’s fluffy body was surrounded by Flame and he Charged into the Sandslash. The Sandslash Curled up Defensivly and its spikes seemed to become more pointy. Happy unleashed Lava Plume, hurting not only Sandslash, but a couple surrounding Sandshrew. Sandslash uncurled itself, and sent out Metal Burst, which hit Happy hard in response to the brutal fire attacks it had inflicted on Sandslash. Volg bit down on the other Sandslash’s metallic hide with Fire Fang. Sandslash retaliated with Icicle Spear, which struck the Charmeleon three times.

Isaac’s Incineroar Morgana was also making his way through the crowd of Sandshrew. He targeted a particular Sandshrew, whose eyes were wide with fear as the large feline opened its maw. It feared being bitten, or even worse, a Fire attack. Instead, Morgana’s rough tongue scraped over its head. It became rigid with paralysis, unable to move before the Incineroar came down with a Fire Fang, powered up by the bright sun. Nearby Sandshrew scratched at Morgana’s back with Fury Cutter, hoping to take the big cat down.

Following directions, the small Cyndaquil Wildfire turned its attention to the new wave of enemies. The flame on its back brightened, and he unleashed a Wave of Heat that washed over several Sandshrew, causing them to retreat into protective balls. Wildfire curled up into a ball as well, surrounding himself with flames and hitting a row of Sandshrew. When he got to the last Sandshrew, he was stopped by it Rapid Spinning in the opposite direction. It swiped at Wildfire with Metal Claw, and the Cyndaquil retreated back through the group with Rollout, successfully hitting more enemies on his way back to his trainer.

With the majority of the group focusing on the incoming swarm, Lucas and Kong decided to continue their attack on Vanillite. The Slaking raised its large hands and began a slow and somewhat sarcastic clap. Flattered, the Vanillite try to use Hail once more. It doesn’t seem to affect the amount of snow and ice that is already swirling around, though the effects of Sunny Day did not look to be as strong. Still Truant, Kong did not feel like using any kind of Fire attack. An enraged Vanillite smashed into him with Icicle Spear, hitting him twice. Kong grumbled, and punched the Vanillite hard with Reversal. He yawned as the Vanillite spun away.

While the battle continued on, bubbles began to form underneath the ice in the pool of the waterfall. The only one who noticed was Athena, who had been fighting off a crowd of Bergmite with her Clefable. She turned her attention away from her battle to watch cracks begin to form. Ice exploded as jets of water burst into the air, and Athena shielded her face. Riding these jets of water were round, chubby blue Pokemon.
“There’s more of them! The water!” Athena yelled over the sound of rushing water and ice. Dozens of Spheal rolled over the ice and toward the group of Pokemon and trainers. Some launched themselves into the air with Water Gun, and then attacked again from their new height. Two larger Sealeo dragged themselves up onto the ice and slid easily across it. Dazzling light surrounded their mouths, and they sent Aurora Beams into the crowd.
“Selene!” Athena called to her Clefable. “Help everyone else, use Lucky Chant!” The trial captain watched as her Pokemon chanted to whatever forces were watching over this battle, hoping to protect everyone from any critical hits.

Please make sure again to use 1 pokemon and up to 3 moves. If you wish to catch a Pokemon, make sure it is properly weakened first before throwing a Pokeball, but doing so does not use up a battle action!

Keith grinned, grinned in spite of the dangers of the situation before them, so contagious was the determination and enthusiasm of his newly-evolved Toxapex. Aster was able to deflect an oncoming Sandshrew with Baneful Bunker (and strangely enough, seemed to be able to poison the Steel-type, unless Keith was mistaken?), Recover back some of her health, and then strike down that Vanillish with a powerful Venoshock, ganging up on it alongside someone's Pawniard. The Pawniard reminded Keith of his own Pawniard, Ginny, by the way it flew through the air via Magnet Rise, which was Ginny's preferred means of moving around as well. However, the Vanillish did not fall- rather, it stuck out its tongue in a taunting and mockulatory fashion. Aster didn't seem to have fallen for it, though the Pawniard was a whole other swarm of Yanma- she lunged in for Iron Head, and one badly-timed Harden on Vanillish's part later, and the Pawniard's head blade was stuck. Keith saw this, but wasn't sure what he could even do about it, if indeed he could do anything at all. Would any of Aster's attacks even be able to do anything to separate the Pawniard and Vanillish?

But the battle kept raging on, attacks flying every which way, someone's Charmeleon even evolving into a badass black Charizard- Keith knew that right now, he had to do what he knew he could, instead of pondering what he might be able to do. Moreover, a Scizor already seemed to be coming to the Pawniard's aid. He looked around for a different opponent for Aster to handle. His eyes met one of the strange snowy Sandshrew, the one Aster had deflected by way of Baneful Bunker. But they were Ice and Steel-types, weren't they? Aster didn't really have the moves to take on a Steel-type. Liquidation and Dig would only get her so far...

"Hey. Hat man."

This snapped Keith out of it. " Wh- Vinny, what is it?" he asked the Camerupt upon which he rode.

"And I take it youse also realized by dis point dat Aster ain't exactly yer best choice fer such an opponent?" continued the Camerupt.

Keith nodded again. "I'm guessing you want in on this, then?" he asked the Camerupt.

"Nah, not just yet," Vinny shook his head. "Youse and Meowth'd hafta get off my back for me to battle, and I know yer kinda relyin' on the heat. Nah, I'm just sayin', maybe switch Pokémon. Give Aster some well-deserved rest, save her fer later."

"Fair point," Keith conceded. "Aster!" he called.

Aster looked back. "Toxa?" she called back.

"You did well, but how about a break for now?" Keith suggested. "Save you for later, yeah?"

For a moment, Aster considered refusing, but thought better of it. Keith, after all, hadn't steered her wrong yet, and she'd always trusted him over anyone else... why stop now? Besides... she kinda could use a rest, she knew. "Pex," she nodded.

Keith nodded back, holding out the Poison Ball. "Come back now, Aster!" he stated as the Shiny Toxapex was withdrawn. An instant later, Keith had thrown a Level Ball. "Now, Kyle, you're up!" he exclaimed.

The Level Ball split open, and as it did so, it unleashed a Heatmor out into the frigid free-for-all. "Mor!" Kyle exclaimed, immediately recognizing that they were in a battle. His eyes quickly found the Glalie, and his mind was just as quick in realizing that said Glalie might well be calling the shots in this battle... not unlike how a certain Heatran once would command the Fire-types of Mt. Aduro.

And Keith, who knew his Heatmor quite well by this point, could almost see this parallel being drawn in Kyle's eyes. "Not yet, Kyle," he said. "I'm sure we'll have to face off against it at some point, but right now, our fight is down here. Now, go for that Sandshrew there," he said, pointing at that same Sandshrew he'd briefly considered having Aster fight, the one whose Rapid Spin was deflected by Baneful Bunker. "Let's give it a Will-O-Wisp, go for a Power-Up Punch, and follow up with Fire Lash!"

__________________

My Shiny Pokémon (not up for trade, I don't do requests for Shiny banners or recolored Pokken artwork). FB team banners like the one above, however, those I do requests for.

With the Unovan native Ice-types under control with the first round of attacks, each trainer turned their attention to the newcomers. Clusters of Bergmite and the Alolan form of Sandshrew began to hiss and roar angrily as a response to the a seated at the top of the waterfall. The temperature seemed to be continuing to drop, trainers and Pokemon noticing icicles beginning to form on their hair and fur.

In her newly evolved form, Aster the Mareanie was able to fend off incoming attacks. She set up Baneful Bunker just before a rolled-up Sandshrew rammed into her with Rapid Spin. The Sandshrew spun away, reeling from the poison seeping through its body. Aster took the opportunity to Recover herself while she was still under the protection of her spines, gaining back some health she had lost in her previous battle. She gathered up poison for her next attack, but a remaining Vanillite struck an Astonishing attack on Keith’s Pokemon from her blind spot. Gary’s Akame rushed by, still floating through the air with magnetism. She went after a Vanillish, and Aster tagged along to help. As the Toxapex covered the Pokemon with poison, Akame struck it down from the air with Aerial Ace. Despite being attacked, Vanillish stuck out its tongue Tauntingly. The Pawniard fell for it, unable to use the next attack her trainer instructed. Instead, she charged forward with her sharp Iron Head. The blade on her head buried into Vanillish’s soft body. Vanillish attempted to Harden itself in defense, but ended up getting Akame stuck instead.

The Vanilluxe was still a large threat, looming over the battle field with two laughing heads that were egging on its opponents. Alice directed Millie the Miltank to continue rolling at the large Ice-Type. She had gained a lot of momentum, and smashed into Vanilluxe hard. It turned its two faces to the Normal-Type, and sent super chilled air at the Miltank to try and Freeze Dry her. Milie attacked with Thunderbolt and electricity surged through the Vanilluxe’s body. She noticed as the attack hit that she was unable to move one of her legs, it had been frozen to the ground, limiting her movement. Jayson’s Balerion surrounded himself with flames before wildly throwing himself at the Vanilluxe, melting a path in the snow. The Charmeleon tumbled roughly to the ground on the other side of Vanilluxe, who was screeching in pain from the fire. Balerion, panting heavily, looked at its tail, the fire on it was burning rather low. He continued to be pelted by hail. The Vanilluxe created a Beam of Ice with its two mouths, firing it straight at Balerion and hitting it in the chest. The Charmeleon struggled to get up, but suddenly felt an overwhelming warmth.

The thick clouds in the sky parted slightly, and the sun shone down onto the group at the Waterfall. Rorik’s Charmeleon, Volg held its arms up in the air proudly, praising the power of the sun. The several fire types on the field immediately felt energized, despite the snowstorm continuing to rage. Volg looked to the other of its species on the field, Balerion, who now had enough strength to lock his fiery jaws around the base of Vanilluxe. He let out a Burst of Flame that struck not only Vanilluxe but surrounding Sandshrew that were closing in. The Charmeleon’s flame flickered again, its energy was still rather low despite the boost from the sun. Volg approached a large group of Sandshrew and Bergmite, attacking with a Flame Burst of his own. A few Sandshrew went flying, while the heavier Bergmite were pushed aside. A group of Bergmite huddled together and used Harden creating a shield before blowing Powder Snow toward the Charmeleon.

On the other side of the group of Sandshrew and Bergmite, Happy the Flareon made his way through the crowd. Bergmite attempting to stop him in his tracks were toppled over. They conjured up an Icy Wind to try and heal the cracks in their icy bodies and chased slowly after Happy. The Flareon sent out a Heat Wave to keep them away, leaving several of the Bergmite burnedHappy and Volg meet up to face the two Alolan Sandslash. They each picked the target closest to them. Happy’s fluffy body was surrounded by Flame and he Charged into the Sandslash. The Sandslash Curled up Defensivly and its spikes seemed to become more pointy. Happy unleashed Lava Plume, hurting not only Sandslash, but a couple surrounding Sandshrew. Sandslash uncurled itself, and sent out Metal Burst, which hit Happy hard in response to the brutal fire attacks it had inflicted on Sandslash. Volg bit down on the other Sandslash’s metallic hide with Fire Fang. Sandslash retaliated with Icicle Spear, which struck the Charmeleon three times.

Isaac’s Incineroar Morgana was also making his way through the crowd of Sandshrew. He targeted a particular Sandshrew, whose eyes were wide with fear as the large feline opened its maw. It feared being bitten, or even worse, a Fire attack. Instead, Morgana’s rough tongue scraped over its head. It became rigid with paralysis, unable to move before the Incineroar came down with a Fire Fang, powered up by the bright sun. Nearby Sandshrew scratched at Morgana’s back with Fury Cutter, hoping to take the big cat down.

Following directions, the small Cyndaquil Wildfire turned its attention to the new wave of enemies. The flame on its back brightened, and he unleashed a Wave of Heat that washed over several Sandshrew, causing them to retreat into protective balls. Wildfire curled up into a ball as well, surrounding himself with flames and hitting a row of Sandshrew. When he got to the last Sandshrew, he was stopped by it Rapid Spinning in the opposite direction. It swiped at Wildfire with Metal Claw, and the Cyndaquil retreated back through the group with Rollout, successfully hitting more enemies on his way back to his trainer.

With the majority of the group focusing on the incoming swarm, Lucas and Kong decided to continue their attack on Vanillite. The Slaking raised its large hands and began a slow and somewhat sarcastic clap. Flattered, the Vanillite try to use Hail once more. It doesn’t seem to affect the amount of snow and ice that is already swirling around, though the effects of Sunny Day did not look to be as strong. Still Truant, Kong did not feel like using any kind of Fire attack. An enraged Vanillite smashed into him with Icicle Spear, hitting him twice. Kong grumbled, and punched the Vanillite hard with Reversal. He yawned as the Vanillite spun away.

While the battle continued on, bubbles began to form underneath the ice in the pool of the waterfall. The only one who noticed was Athena, who had been fighting off a crowd of Bergmite with her Clefable. She turned her attention away from her battle to watch cracks begin to form. Ice exploded as jets of water burst into the air, and Athena shielded her face. Riding these jets of water were round, chubby blue Pokemon.
“There’s more of them! The water!” Athena yelled over the sound of rushing water and ice. Dozens of Spheal rolled over the ice and toward the group of Pokemon and trainers. Some launched themselves into the air with Water Gun, and then attacked again from their new height. Two larger Sealeo dragged themselves up onto the ice and slid easily across it. Dazzling light surrounded their mouths, and they sent Aurora Beams into the crowd.
“Selene!” Athena called to her Clefable. “Help everyone else, use Lucky Chant!” The trial captain watched as her Pokemon chanted to whatever forces were watching over this battle, hoping to protect everyone from any critical hits.

Please make sure again to use 1 pokemon and up to 3 moves. If you wish to catch a Pokemon, make sure it is properly weakened first before throwing a Pokeball, but doing so does not use up a battle action!

Alice had enough to struggle with focusing on, but something distracted from Millie: a great roar and grand shadow overhead. Through obliterating white, blue eyes rose to admire a black Charizard soaring to its trainer's aid in the distance. Amazing stuff. As much as she feared fire types (except now for Blaze, who she'd taken the time to bond with and trust), there was no mistaking their beauty - like that Flareon bounding around, too.

"Oh, thank god for whoever used sunny day..." She mumbled, teeth chattering a bit. Alice couldn't hide her face in her thermal scarf or the Miltank would be unable to hear her. To be fair, though, the strong sun didn't do anything noticeable to the cold. Her Pokemon got stuck, and Alice set her mind to sorting it out. "Millie, use your milk drink to regain some health, then stomp your way out of that trap and and get back into rollout!"

Her Pokemon obeyed, beginning to heal itself with help from its own udders (weird, man, what a world) before relentlessly stomping with her free hooves. The cute Pokemon looked surprisingly scary when she was frustrated and set on something. The Pokemon halted briefly, though, to moo at her and duck. Alice looked back to see what Millie had spotted, unleashing a scream as an aurora beam so very, very, very narrowly missed her person. An army of adorable blue bouncy balls and their elder Sealeo had joined the fray.

"I swear to Arceus, this is the most unfun, scary shiz I have ever faced and I've been to Phantom Isle." Alice remarked with obvious stress in her voice. Frostbite or heart failure, what would kill her first? Not her condition, that was for sure. At least higher sugars kept her body warmer? "Keep stomping out of there, Millie, we have to finish this Vanilluxe and help out the others!"

With the Unovan native Ice-types under control with the first round of attacks, each trainer turned their attention to the newcomers. Clusters of Bergmite and the Alolan form of Sandshrew began to hiss and roar angrily as a response to the a seated at the top of the waterfall. The temperature seemed to be continuing to drop, trainers and Pokemon noticing icicles beginning to form on their hair and fur.

In her newly evolved form, Aster the Mareanie was able to fend off incoming attacks. She set up Baneful Bunker just before a rolled-up Sandshrew rammed into her with Rapid Spin. The Sandshrew spun away, reeling from the poison seeping through its body. Aster took the opportunity to Recover herself while she was still under the protection of her spines, gaining back some health she had lost in her previous battle. She gathered up poison for her next attack, but a remaining Vanillite struck an Astonishing attack on Keith’s Pokemon from her blind spot. Gary’s Akame rushed by, still floating through the air with magnetism. She went after a Vanillish, and Aster tagged along to help. As the Toxapex covered the Pokemon with poison, Akame struck it down from the air with Aerial Ace. Despite being attacked, Vanillish stuck out its tongue Tauntingly. The Pawniard fell for it, unable to use the next attack her trainer instructed. Instead, she charged forward with her sharp Iron Head. The blade on her head buried into Vanillish’s soft body. Vanillish attempted to Harden itself in defense, but ended up getting Akame stuck instead.

The Vanilluxe was still a large threat, looming over the battle field with two laughing heads that were egging on its opponents. Alice directed Millie the Miltank to continue rolling at the large Ice-Type. She had gained a lot of momentum, and smashed into Vanilluxe hard. It turned its two faces to the Normal-Type, and sent super chilled air at the Miltank to try and Freeze Dry her. Milie attacked with Thunderbolt and electricity surged through the Vanilluxe’s body. She noticed as the attack hit that she was unable to move one of her legs, it had been frozen to the ground, limiting her movement. Jayson’s Balerion surrounded himself with flames before wildly throwing himself at the Vanilluxe, melting a path in the snow. The Charmeleon tumbled roughly to the ground on the other side of Vanilluxe, who was screeching in pain from the fire. Balerion, panting heavily, looked at its tail, the fire on it was burning rather low. He continued to be pelted by hail. The Vanilluxe created a Beam of Ice with its two mouths, firing it straight at Balerion and hitting it in the chest. The Charmeleon struggled to get up, but suddenly felt an overwhelming warmth.

The thick clouds in the sky parted slightly, and the sun shone down onto the group at the Waterfall. Rorik’s Charmeleon, Volg held its arms up in the air proudly, praising the power of the sun. The several fire types on the field immediately felt energized, despite the snowstorm continuing to rage. Volg looked to the other of its species on the field, Balerion, who now had enough strength to lock his fiery jaws around the base of Vanilluxe. He let out a Burst of Flame that struck not only Vanilluxe but surrounding Sandshrew that were closing in. The Charmeleon’s flame flickered again, its energy was still rather low despite the boost from the sun. Volg approached a large group of Sandshrew and Bergmite, attacking with a Flame Burst of his own. A few Sandshrew went flying, while the heavier Bergmite were pushed aside. A group of Bergmite huddled together and used Harden creating a shield before blowing Powder Snow toward the Charmeleon.

On the other side of the group of Sandshrew and Bergmite, Happy the Flareon made his way through the crowd. Bergmite attempting to stop him in his tracks were toppled over. They conjured up an Icy Wind to try and heal the cracks in their icy bodies and chased slowly after Happy. The Flareon sent out a Heat Wave to keep them away, leaving several of the Bergmite burnedHappy and Volg meet up to face the two Alolan Sandslash. They each picked the target closest to them. Happy’s fluffy body was surrounded by Flame and he Charged into the Sandslash. The Sandslash Curled up Defensivly and its spikes seemed to become more pointy. Happy unleashed Lava Plume, hurting not only Sandslash, but a couple surrounding Sandshrew. Sandslash uncurled itself, and sent out Metal Burst, which hit Happy hard in response to the brutal fire attacks it had inflicted on Sandslash. Volg bit down on the other Sandslash’s metallic hide with Fire Fang. Sandslash retaliated with Icicle Spear, which struck the Charmeleon three times.

Isaac’s Incineroar Morgana was also making his way through the crowd of Sandshrew. He targeted a particular Sandshrew, whose eyes were wide with fear as the large feline opened its maw. It feared being bitten, or even worse, a Fire attack. Instead, Morgana’s rough tongue scraped over its head. It became rigid with paralysis, unable to move before the Incineroar came down with a Fire Fang, powered up by the bright sun. Nearby Sandshrew scratched at Morgana’s back with Fury Cutter, hoping to take the big cat down.

Following directions, the small Cyndaquil Wildfire turned its attention to the new wave of enemies. The flame on its back brightened, and he unleashed a Wave of Heat that washed over several Sandshrew, causing them to retreat into protective balls. Wildfire curled up into a ball as well, surrounding himself with flames and hitting a row of Sandshrew. When he got to the last Sandshrew, he was stopped by it Rapid Spinning in the opposite direction. It swiped at Wildfire with Metal Claw, and the Cyndaquil retreated back through the group with Rollout, successfully hitting more enemies on his way back to his trainer.

With the majority of the group focusing on the incoming swarm, Lucas and Kong decided to continue their attack on Vanillite. The Slaking raised its large hands and began a slow and somewhat sarcastic clap. Flattered, the Vanillite try to use Hail once more. It doesn’t seem to affect the amount of snow and ice that is already swirling around, though the effects of Sunny Day did not look to be as strong. Still Truant, Kong did not feel like using any kind of Fire attack. An enraged Vanillite smashed into him with Icicle Spear, hitting him twice. Kong grumbled, and punched the Vanillite hard with Reversal. He yawned as the Vanillite spun away.

While the battle continued on, bubbles began to form underneath the ice in the pool of the waterfall. The only one who noticed was Athena, who had been fighting off a crowd of Bergmite with her Clefable. She turned her attention away from her battle to watch cracks begin to form. Ice exploded as jets of water burst into the air, and Athena shielded her face. Riding these jets of water were round, chubby blue Pokemon.
“There’s more of them! The water!” Athena yelled over the sound of rushing water and ice. Dozens of Spheal rolled over the ice and toward the group of Pokemon and trainers. Some launched themselves into the air with Water Gun, and then attacked again from their new height. Two larger Sealeo dragged themselves up onto the ice and slid easily across it. Dazzling light surrounded their mouths, and they sent Aurora Beams into the crowd.
“Selene!” Athena called to her Clefable. “Help everyone else, use Lucky Chant!” The trial captain watched as her Pokemon chanted to whatever forces were watching over this battle, hoping to protect everyone from any critical hits.

Please make sure again to use 1 pokemon and up to 3 moves. If you wish to catch a Pokemon, make sure it is properly weakened first before throwing a Pokeball, but doing so does not use up a battle action!

As more Ice Pokemon showed up, Hyrem and Happy were ready to switch to the reinforcements, as a few other trainers were able to as well, though this would ultimately result in quite a prolonged battle, and they would have to be ready for it. In addition, more Ice Pokemon meant colder temperatures, and Hyrem was starting to feel the cold seep through his coat. Thankfully, Kenna was nearby, she and Silas continuing to make sure no attacks strayed toward Kahakai or her Eevee, so Hyrem made it a point to stand by his Rapidash. "Hey Kenna, you mind if I stick close to you? I'm going to need my big Fire-type if I want to stay warm in this place." As Kenna nodded, he put his arm around the unicorn's neck and watched as Gary and Akame continued to battle the Vanillish, though it seemed to hold its own as the Pawniard found her head blade stuck inside the Vanillish, potentially putting herself in danger while Keith's Toxapex played defensively after all the attacks that were reflected back at her. ("Oh, I can help, I can eat that Vanillish until the Pawniard is free~" came the suggestion from the Froslass beside Hyrem. "No, Tsurara, no eating the enemy. Not yet anyway," said Hyrem as he tried to focus on his own battle.) The Miltank and Shiny Charmeleon continued to battle the Vanilluxe, both of them dishing out a fair bit of damage as the regular Charmeleon boosted his shiny counterpart with a Sunny Day as well as the other Fire-types involved. All of them were able to ignore the rest of the Vanillite all because the Slaking proved to be plenty of a match for them, their attacks only serving to ire his anger and swing his arm to wipe many of them out with a single attack.

As for the reinforcements, Happy and the Charmeleon named Volg both ran in to face the two Alolan Sandslash, knocking aside the Bergmite along the way, with Happy Charging his way straight towards the first Sandslash while covering himself in Flames and gaining Speed in the process, the Sandslash reducing the damage by a bit with a well timed Defense Curl, before letting loose with a Lava Plume against the first Sandslash and some of the Sandshrew dealing lots of damage before being hit hard by Sandslash's Metal Burst. Following suit, Volg, after having spat a Flame Burst at the group of Sandshrew and Bergmite approaching, sank his Fire Fang attack right into the other Alolan Sandslash's body before being forced off by three of its Icicle Spears puncturing his body. The Incineroar was more focused on one individual Alolan Sandshrew, Licking its body and Paralyzing it before it decided it was something to shove in his mouth with his own Fiery Fangs, and the Cyndaquil made up for the Incineroar's singular purpose with several attacks that hit multiple Alolan Sandshrew without taking much damage in return.

Just when the group thought they were fighting more manageable numbers of Pokemon, Athena shouted again, “There’s more of them! The water!” Hyrem looked past Kenna and scanned the water to see many familiar blue shapes breaking the surface. Soon an entire herd of Spheal, led by two Sealeo, made land and started attacking with Water Gun and Aurora Beam, and with many Fire-types on the battlefield those Water attacks would threaten to reduce the number of allies available. Looking around once again, the Shiny Charmeleon was nowhere in sight, instead replaced by a powerful looking black dragon with a dark red membrane on the inside of its wings and two horns on its head. "Wowwww, so that's what the shiny version looks like," he said in awe, familiar with the form of the Pokemon since it was his father's strongest, but registering it in his Pokedex all the same:

Charizard, the Flame Pokemon, and the evolved form of Charmeleon. Constantly flying around on the search for strong Pokemon to fight, the flame on its tail gets brighter whenever it gets mad or is pushed to its limit in battle. The fiery breath it spits is hot enough to melt even large boulders back into molten rock and burning most other targets to ash, and it has been known to start forest fires by accident. As a result, it avoids using its fire breath on anything weaker than itself, preferring a more physical approach particularly when hunting and catching prey.

"Oh man, it just looks so much cooler every time I see one in person!" stated Hyrem, making a note to himself to talk with the black Charizard's owner after the fight. Keith had also summoned a new Pokemon, a creature with large, yellow claws usually meant for digging, a tail that looked more like an exhaust pipe, and a stream of flame dripping out of its narrow mouth that it would breathe out and suck back in, almost as if the fire was its tongue. "Oh yeah, I think Keith told me about that one," he said before adding another Fire-type to his Pokedex:

Heatmor, the Anteater Pokemon. Heatmor is a specialized predator, almost exclusively eating another Pokemon known as Durant. Its tail serves as an intake valve, allowing it to access the flame in its body and use it as its tongue, melting a Durant's metallic body into liquid before licking up the molten puddle left behind.

"Hm, well, it says it's known for melting a Durant, whatever that is, but maybe it can do that to Ice Pokemon too! Sure would be helpful for this..." Hyrem's thoughts were interrupted by one of the trainers approaching him, the scientist looking man with the Charmeleon who hadn't evolved yet, saying, "Hyrem, wasn't it? If you need assistance, I do have some spare Potions! If your Flareon's enemy is as tough as my Charmeleon's opponent, I have a feeling both are going to need it. Hum, i-if you don't mind me intruding, that is!"

"Uh, hmmmm," was all Hyrem could sound out as he looked at Happy; he has been getting pretty beat up not only from the attack he took by the Alolan Sandslash but that Ice Beam from Vanillish as well, so he certainly would benefit from some healing at this point. *What do you think, Happy?* he thoughtspoke to him, *do you want to keep fighting, or would you rather switch out and defend your family?* Happy was conflicted at this point; on one hand, the Fire-type in him told him to keep fighting until the end, but on the other he would risk going down, unable to keep Kai and the kids safe for the rest of the battle, and either Silas or Kenna would have to take his place, leaving the family that much more vulnerable. In the end, he decided battling wasn't worth the chance he couldn't do his duty as a father. *Go ahead and put someone else in, I want to stay with my kids!* he thought back to Hyrem, at which point he responded to the other trainer.

"Hold that thought, I've got a change of plans anyway, but thanks for the offer, uh...what's your name? Anyway, Silas!" he called for his Houndoom, to which came a single bark from Silas. "Get ready to battle, I'll need you in just a bit!" "Houn!" he nodded, Hyrem turning back to Happy. "All right, Happy, go give that Alolan Sandslash one last Flame Charge before coming back here so I can give you something to eat!" As he was saying his orders, he took out a heart-shaped cookie known as a Sweet Heart (1/5) that would restore Happy's health and at the same time be a tasty treat for a job well done so far. "Then it'll be time to Baton Pass your stat boosts to Silas so he can use them in battle!" He then turned once again to the other trainer. "By the way, that's a really tough Charmeleon you've got there," he complimented, "I'd hate to be on his bad side! And that Starmie looks really cool too, I've never seen one like that!" Even in the heat of battle, Hyrem somehow found the time to admire other trainer's Pokemon and try to make friends out of the comrades here he hadn't met yet, that was simply his way of doing things!